Unforgivable
by Roses-N-Runways
Summary: Can Scott ever forgive his stepmother? Is there anything Elaine can do to redeem herself? Takes place before Scott goes to Horizon.
1. Chapter 1: I can't even run away

DISCLAIMER: None of this belongs to me.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I wanted to redeem Elaine, even though I'm pretty sure she doesn't deserve it and Scott could _never_ forgive her. Oh well, I thought it would be interesting to try.

By the way, I couldn't remember what state they live in, and I wanted to make it winter, so if they live in California or something, you can just pretend they had a freak snowstorm…hahaha.

Not too much happens in this first chapter, but I do have to set things up a bit. More happens in chpt 2.

"UNFORGIVEABLE" (Chapter 1)

Scott was trying to keep his mind on the French Revolution. He really was. But his head ached, his throat burned, and he couldn't focus his eyes. He had known he was sick when he got up that morning, but he couldn't ask his stepmother if he could stay home from school. Anything was better than staying home with her. Even the French Revolution.

Scott finally gave up trying to keep up in note taking, and let his head fall down on his desk. He must have drifted off, because a second later he popped up to the feel of his teacher patting him on the shoulder. "Scott?" she said angrily. "There will be no sleeping in my class."

Scott shook his head. "Sorry," he mumbled, trying to rouse himself.

But his teacher removed her hand from his shoulder and said, "You feel awfully warm, Scott. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said unconvincingly.

She leaned in and looked at his face. "Scott, I think you'd better go down to the nurses office."

"I'm ok," he tried to sound convincing. But he knew he didn't look it.

"Go," she ordered him. "In fact, class will be over in just a minute. I'll walk you there myself."

_Great_, Scott thought. _I can't even run away. _

The bell rang, and everyone else scattered off in all directions for their next class. Scott just sat miserably at his desk. He knew the nurse would see that he had a fever and make him go home. His teacher came over and started to put his things away for him.

"All right, let's go," she said. Scott dragged himself up and followed her.

_Tell her._ A voice in his head said. _Tell her, and maybe she'll let you stay here instead. _

But they were at the nurses office already. His teacher told him to sit down in one of the hard plastic chairs outside. He could hear her saying something to the nurse but he couldn't make out what it was. His ears were failing him.

"Scott, come in here, please." The nurse told him.

His teacher gave him an encouraging smile, told him she hoped he'd feel better soon, and left. She couldn't possibly know what she had done to him.

His got up, leaving his bag on the chair, and went into the nurses office.

"Lie down," she told him, motioning to the cot with the long paper roll stretched over it so that they could pretend it was all sanitary.

"No," he said, not trusting the nurse.

"Scott, lie down, your temperature will read more accurately that way."

Scott sat on the cot, but wouldn't lie down. That was too bad, because he was really exhausted by now. The walk to the nurses office had never seemed so long, and that cot was looking pretty good by now.

The nurse stuck the thermometer in his mouth roughly, stabbing him in the tongue. Scott was too tired to care. When a minute had passed, she pulled it out again, and raised her eyebrows.

"I'll need to call your parents"

"My dad's not home. He's away on business." Scott said.

"Well, surely someone is there to look after you?" The nurse said impatiently.

"My uh…my stepmom. But, she's probably busy, you shouldn't bother her. I could just rest here till school's over, couldn't I?"

"No, with a fever as high as yours, I'm required to call your parent or guardian and have them remove you from school."

"But-" Scott didn't know what to say. What _could_ he say?

_Tell her_. The voice urged him again, the little voice inside him that was screaming. _Tell her now so that she won't make you go home to Elaine. Just tell her!!_

But he couldn't.

He waited, feeling even more sick, while the nurse dialed the number in the other room. When Scott heard, "So you can be here in a few minutes?" he couldn't help it, he threw up in the bedpan next to the cot.

The nurse hung up and rushed in.

"See?" she sighed, taking the bedpan to the little bathroom to wash out, "You'll be better off resting at home."

Scott leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

In a few minutes, Elaine rushed in.

"Where is he?" she asked, "Where's my son?"

The nurse led her into the little room where Scott was still sitting on the cot looking miserable. He _hated_ when she tried to make people think that she really thought of him as her son.

"Oh, Scotty, poor baby," Elaine crooned, reaching down to feel his forehead.

Scott pulled away from her touch, but found it exhausting and so when she took his hand and pulled him up to a standing position, he could only comply.

"Do I need to sign him out or anything?" she asked, putting on the facial expression of a concerned mother.

"Yes, here" the nurse said, showing her a clipboard. Elaine scrawled her name on it, one hand still on Scott. Scott was already hot from his fever, but that one hand one him was burning through his skin.

"Are those your things, Scott?" Elaine asked him, pointing to the backpack and coat lying on the plastic chair.

Scott nodded painfully, a lump in his throat.

Elaine gathered them up and carried them in one hand, keeping her other arm around Scott.

"Thank you so much," she told the nurse as they left. "Scotty, tell the nurse thank you"

_For what?_ Scott thought_. For_ _sending me home to you? No thanks._

When they reached the front door of the school, Elaine pushed him onto a bench and started to put his coat on him. She leaned down to zip it up. Scott could smell her perfume when she did this, and it made him nauseated.

She pulled out his hat and gloves, stuck the hat down over his head, practically covering his eyes, and wiggled his gloves onto his hands.

"I'm too hot," he complained.

"You are hot," Elaine laughed at her own joke. "But, seriously Scotty, you're sick and I have to take care of you."

She pulled him back up. "All warm and cozy? Okay, let's go."

She led him out to the car.

"Nice parking job," Scott muttered.

It looked like she had just pulled up to the front of the school, hopped out, and left the car sitting there, lopsided in the driveway.

Elaine didn't answer. She opened the door, poked Scott in, and then reached across him to buckle his seatbelt.

"I can do it myself", Scott mumbled lazily.

Elaine shut his door and went around to the driver's side, got in and started the car. She must have hit every bump and pothole in the road before they reached home.

Once home again, Elaine got out, and went over to Scott's side, opened the door, and reached across him to undo his seatbelt.

"I can do it," Scott mumbled again, his eyes closed.

Elaine pulled his out of the car and walked with him into the house.

"Come on, you need to go upstairs and lay down" Elaine said, when Scott made no move to do anything.

Once again she pulled him along up the stairs and into his bedroom.

"So what's it look like?" Scott asked

"What?" Elaine said.

"My room. I don't think you've ever seen it in the daytime." Scott said.

"Ha, ha." Elaine said sarcastically. "Sit down."

She pushed him down to sit on the side of his bed, and leaned down to pull his gym shoes off.

Then she started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Elaine-" Scott said weakly.

"Oh, relax, I'll leave you alone. I don't want to catch whatever it is you've got." She told him, exasperated.

She unbuttoned his shirt and hung it up in his closet.

He had on a white shirt underneath; Elaine pulled this off over his head, leaving him bare-chested.

But instead of touching him, she got a t-shirt and sweatpants out of his pajama drawer and pulled the t-shirt over his head.

_That's it? She just wanted to change my shirt?_ Scott thought incredulously.

Elaine pushed him down to lie on his bed, and swung his legs up there too. Scott thought his pillow had never felt so soft in his life. He was so sick he could go ahead and relax even with Elaine there.

But then he felt her fingers grasping at his belt buckle. "_No_," he mumbled, reaching weak fingers to cover up his belt, trying to protect himself from her.

Elaine impatiently pushed his hand out of the way and unbuckled his belt. Then he felt her fingers opening up the button and sliding the zipper down. Scott let his head fall to the side, facing away from her. Whatever was going to happen, Scott was too tired to try to stop it.

Elaine worked his pants off, exposing his boxers. But instead of pulling those off too, she started pushing the sweatpants onto him.

Scott felt confused. She wasn't going to touch him? Elaine pulled the covers up over him and smoothed them down, which actually felt nice now that Scott was getting cold chills.

Elaine patted him on the head. "I'm going to go call the doctor." She said

As soon as she left Scott drifted into sleep. He didn't wake up until about an hour later when Elaine came back in.

"I called the doctor, but apparently something is going around and I couldn't get you in until tomorrow."

"When's my dad coming back?" Scott asked sleepily.

"You know he won't be back for two weeks. He told you that when he left." Elaine answered.

"You mean he's not coming back sooner?" Scott asked, crushed.

"Sorry, baby, but this business deal's too important." Elaine said.

"More important than me I guess" Scott said angrily.

"He knows I'll take good care of you." Elaine smiled sweetly.

Scott rolled over to face away from her.

"All right, you need to eat something, so what do you want?" Elaine went on, ignoring him.

"Nothing."

"Fine, I'll bring you some soup."

Elaine went away, and Scott could hear her moving around the kitchen.

He came back up with a tray which she set over his lap. A bowl of steaming chicken soup, a glass of juice, and a little silver bell.

"You can ring it if you need something." She said brightly.

"Thanks," he said, not really sure what to say. She usually wasn't this nice to him.

"Go on and eat," she said.

Scott eyed the soup. Maybe she was drugging him. Waiting for him to pass out and then she can have her fun.

"Oh, I forgot, let me give you some of this first," Elaine said, holding up a bottle.

"What is it?" Scott asked suspiciously.

"Cold medicine, silly." She said, sitting on the edge of his bed. She took the spoon and poured the cold medicine into it.

"Open up," she told him.

Scott didn't want her putting something in his mouth. "Let me take it," he said

"It will spill. Just drink it, Scotty."

"Don't call me Scotty."

"Fine. Just drink it. _Scott_." She moved it close to his mouth, so Scott had to swallow it.

"Now another one," Elaine said, dipping more into the spoon.

"Are you sure you're supposed to take two?" Scott asked. Was she trying to knock him out?

"Yes, it says it right here on the bottle, children's dosage- Under 6, ask a doctor, Under 12, one teaspoon, Under 18, two teaspoons. See?"

"Well- all right" Scott took the second dose.

"Good boy."

"I'm not a dog."

"Eat your soup"


	2. Chapter 2: How could you love me?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just to clear up any confusion, Chapter 2 does not take place the next day, it's just a little later that day- 'cause when you're sick, you nap throughout the day! LOL. Okay,

Also, to my, um,_ two_ whole readers…(lol) …ShalBrenFan (Izzy) and Ghostwriter…I LOVE the praise, thank you for reading and reviewing!! Maybe next time you would like to give some criticism, or, even if you have any ideas for this story, you can let me know those too, ok? I would _love_ to have some more input. And now, on to Chapter Two!

CHAPTER 2

Scott had the most peaceful sleep ever. That's why he was surprised to wake up and find Elaine sitting next to his bed. Her jerked up, pulling the covers higher around him. He couldn't imagine why he had been able to sleep with her in the room.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked, his voice hoarse. It hurt to talk.

"I was watching you sleep", Elaine said casually.

"Well, that's uh…that's creepy." Scott told her. "Can you go away now?"

"No," Elaine said, "Unless you need something."

Scott eyed her. "I don't need anything from you." He hoped he had made that clear.

Elaine laughed. "You're so sick."

"And that's _funny_? Wow, you're more twisted than I thought."

"No, it's not funny that you're sick, it's just funny the way you're acting." Elaine explained, examining her manicured nails.

"I'm not acting, I'm pissed at you, and you know why. And for the record, you're the one who's sick. Now get out of my room." Scott stared at her with hard eyes.

Elaine looked surprised, and a little hurt. "Why are you mad at me?" she asked.

Scott's jaw dropped open. "Are you kidding me? Are you fuckin' kidding me?!"

Elaine gave him a disapproving look. "Scotty, don't use that kind of language. And you have no reason to be mad at me, so just calm down." Then she looked concerned. "It's probably the fever talking."

She reached forward to feel his head, but Scott jerked away from her.

Elaine sat back, looking confused. "What's wrong with you today?"

Scott couldn't believe how blind she was.

"The same thing that's been wrong with me for the past few months, Elaine. Take a wild guess."

"Oh, this has to do with the divorce and how you think I took your mommy away or whatever." Elaine said, looking bored. "Haven't we done that issue to death?"

"No, Elaine, this has nothing to do with the divorce. God, you're so clueless."

Elaine pursed her lips. "Well if it has nothing to do with the divorce then why don't you just grow up and stop trying to get attention? That's all you're doing. It's like you don't want me to have your dad's attention, so you act out to keep him noticing you."

Scott couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Yeah, Elaine, you're right. I am trying to keep you away from my dad, I mean, you're so stuck on him and I just can't stand seeing the two of you together, because I want you all to myself. Is that what you want me to say? Would that make you feel better?"

Elaine looked confused. "Scott, I know you're jealous of me being married, but your father is my soul mate. What you and I do is fun and all, but it's your father I'm in love with."

"I'm gonna scream. Just get out of here."

"Don't scream, you'll hurt your throat."

"WHY DO YOU CARE?" Scott yelled. "Have you EVER cared about the way I felt? Have you ever cared about what happened to me at all? Have you even-"

Elaine interrupted, raising her voice. "Of course I care about you! How could you say that? How could you think I don't? After everything I've done for you? Don't you know I love you?"

That shocked Scott into silence. Then he said, slowly, carefully, "How could you love me?"

"What?"

"How can you sit there, and tell me you love me, after everything you put me through? How can you even pretend? Do you honestly think Icould love you back?"

Elaine froze, her eyes wide. "You do, though, don't you?"

"No! God, I hate you! You ruined my life! You ruined my family, my relationship with my dad, anything I could ever want in my future will be affected by _you_. I hate you for that! I hate you!"

Elaine got up and ran from the room, tears streaming down her face. In her delusional, immature mind, _she had thought the boy loved her. _

----------------------

Scott didn't feel the slightest bit bad about his outburst, even though he could hear Elaine crying in the next room. However, two hours later, he was hoping Elaine had calmed down enough to make him something to eat.

He wasn't disappointed. She came in shortly after, carrying atray, and set it over his lap wordlessly. Her eyes were red and puffy. She didn't look at him.

She sat down again in the chair by his bed, looking at her hands in her lap, and asked, "Do you need anything else?"

Scott said, "No, but maybe see if my dad could come home early."

Elaine sighed, "I told you, he-"

"I know, but maybe just ask him."

"You want to call him yourself and ask?" Elaine offered.

"No." Scott looked at her. "He won't care if I want him to come home. But he might drop everything and run home if _you_ wanted him to." There was bitterness in his voice.

"Well, I don't want to ask him, because I know how important this business deal is to him, and-"

"Yeah, you wouldn't want to ruin anything, 'cuz that's just not you."

Elaine was silent.

Then she burst out, "What do you want from me, Scott? I'm _trying_, okay? I'm trying! I've never been a parent before, I don't-"

"Oh, you've never been a parent? Yeah, I can see how that would be confusing. Okay, well here's a tip for you: Don't have sex with your kid!"

Elaine looked down, almost embarrassed, but then she looked angry. "Hey, don't blame that on me. _You_ wanted it."

"No. I. Did. NOT." Scott said angrily.

"Scotty, you can't deny it. I saw how you got, the way you reacted-"

"Don't talk about that!" Scott yelled. He didn't understand why his body had reacted the way it had to her; he knew he hadn't wanted what he was being given, and yet he couldn't help the way he felt while it was going on.

"But it's true. If you hadn't wanted me, Scott, there's no way you would've been able to do all that with me. Don't sit there and tell me you didn't want it."

"But I- I didn't, ok, I don't know why I-" Scott felt his eyes getting wet, and tried to keep from crying. "Look," he whispered, "I don't know. I really don't. All I know is I didn't want to do it then, and I don't want to do it anymore. ANYMORE. I mean it. Do you get that?"

Elaine looked despondent. "I thought you liked me. Why don't you?"

Scott looked incredulously at her. "I _did_ like you. It's hard to remember now, but…in the beginning, I liked you just fine. I mean, yeah, at first I blamed you for their divorce, but I mean…you were _nice_ to me. You were all I had. My mom was far away, and my dad was always working, and you were _there_, and that was nice. I could tell you were trying. But then you started all this, and I…I couldn't deal with that. I know you didn't want to be a mom, but, that was better than whatever it is you're trying to be _now_. I mean, God, Elaine, I don't even know what to _think_! I don't know what you _are_. You're not my step-mom, you're not my girlfriend, I just- I don't even know what this _is_! God, why'd you have to get me so confused?!"

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" Elaine said, clearly bothered.

"How about you stop coming into my room at night? How about you let me go places after school so I'm not stuck here with you?"

"But, Scotty, I'll miss you."

"Tough."

"Remember the rules, Scotty."

"Screw the rules! I'm sick of this! I hate it, and I hate you, and sooner or later I'm gonna stop caring if my dad hates me, and I'll tell him everything. Anything's better than putting up with this day after day."

Scott started coughing, big hacking coughs that shook his body and made his chest hurt. Elaine moved to sit with him on the bed and rubbed his back. Scott didn't push her away, he was too busy trying to breathe.

When he got done coughing, he had tears in his eyes.

"Want me to bring you some ice-cream? It might help" She asked, meaning his throat.

"Ice-cream's not gonna fix this, Elaine." Scott answered, looking her in the eyes.

"Scotty-"

"Please don't."


	3. Chapter 3: Nothing short of bondage

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, Chpt 3 is just a lot of dialogue and not much else. Nothing happens except Scott goes to the doctor. This story _is_ heavily dialogue, anyway, just so you know…

While I was typing this, I kept accidentally typing "Scoot" instead of "Scott" LOL :-p

By the way, Dr. Hoskett is the name of my pet's veterinarian. :-p

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER 3:

Elaine left Scott alone for the most part that evening, only coming in to take his temperature, give him cough medicine, and finally, to tell him to get ready for bed.

Scott was a little worried about how things would be without his dad there. He had never been left alone with Elaine for more than a few hours; how would two weeks be? Elaine walked into the bathroom while Scott was tiredly brushing his teeth.

"Elaine!" Scott whirled around to face her. "What are you doing? I could have been…"

"I know," she smiled. "Just wanted to make sure you were getting ready for bed."

"Yeah, well thanks for knocking," Scott mumbled, putting his toothbrush back in his mouth.

Elaine asked, "How do you feel?"

Scott said, "Sick."

Elaine pouted. "I was hoping with your dad gone I could just sleep in here. Otherwise I'll get lonely."

Scott rolled his eyes. "Get yourself a blow up doll."

Elaine frowned. "Well I guess I'll _have_ to sleep all by myself…I don't want to get sick…you've got to get _well_, Scotty, I don't want to spend two whole weeks alone in that big lonely bed."

"Oh, gee, I'll try to get well, just for you," Scott said sarcastically. Then, suddenly afraid she was naïve enough to believe that, he added, "You know I don't want you sleeping in my room, don't you?"

Elaine moved behind him and touched the back of his neck, making him flinch. "We don't have to sleep in your room. You can come sleep in there with me."

Scott stood there in disbelief. "No. No way."

Elaine made that stupid pouty face again that Scott hated. "Why not?"

Scott spit out his toothpaste with a little more force than necessary. "Were you not here for that conversation we had earlier?"

"Oh, Scotty, you're sick and you've got a fever, you don't know what you're saying…and anyway, you _say_ you don't want to, but once we get started, you always like it."

Things like that made Scott angry, though he couldn't really pinpoint why. He assumed it was because he knew he _didn't_ want it, and he didn't like her using that against him.

Scott finished rinsing out his mouth and plopped his toothbrush into the plastic cup on the sink. He turned around to leave his bathroom. "I don't want you in _my_ bed and I am sure as hell not going to go sleep with you _in my father's bed_. Forget it."

Scott walked out and Elaine followed him. Scott didn't want to get in bed with her there watching him. He just stood by the bed expectantly. "You gonna get out?"

Elaine lingered at the door. Scott hated her standing in the doorway of his bedroom; it was an image burned into his memory that he'd never be able to escape.

"Can't I even tuck you in?" Elaine said, sounding a little whiney.

"I'm sixteen, you're not tucking me in."

"Oh, I didn't mean anything childish…I wasn't going to read you a story or anything like that…"

"Then what did you mean?"

Elaine smiled back at him.

"That's what I thought. But I'm sick, so too bad."

Elaine looked like she was struggling with something. Finally she said, "I know, and I don't want to catch it, but, I've been looking forward to your father's business trip for so long…"

"You're disgusting. Now get out so I can go to bed." Scott said, raising his voice.

When Elaine didn't leave right away, Scott faked a few big coughs to get her to leave faster.

The next morning Scott was hoping he would wake up miraculously better and would be able to return to school. There was always the possibility that it was just a twenty-four thing. But before he even opened his eyes he knew he'd be home for another day. He throat burned and felt so thick it hurt to swallow. His head was raging hot. He must have sweated during the night because everything he was wearing felt damp. He already knew he was too tired even to shower.

Glad to see that at least Elaine wasn't in his room, Scott dragged himself out of bed and into the bathroom. He came out a minute later completely exhausted. _Wow_, he _thought, I really can't go to school. I cam barely walk from the bed to the bathroom._

He lay back down, but no sooner had he lay back down then Elaine burst in, dressed to the nines as always. Not the kind of outfits you expect a suburban, middle-class mom to wear, either. It was like Elaine thought that while she was vacuuming the carpets or doing grocery shopping or some other mundane household task, that photographers would be popping out to shoot her for the cover of a fashion magazine.

"Get up, Scotty, it's almost time to go to the doctor," she said in a sing-songy voice.

"Appointment's not till after noon," Scott mumbled, trying to speak as little as possible.

"It _is_ after noon," Elaine told him, "It's almost one. I let you sleep in."

"Oh," Scott said drowsily, not caring what time it was.

"Come on now, get up. I don't have all day for you." Elaine said impatiently.

"In a minute, just let me…rest a second…" Scott said, closing his eyes.

"No, we need to get going," Elaine said, and pulled back his covers.

"Hey!" Scott complained, though he still didn't move. "I said I'd get up in a minute."

But now he had to get up, because there was no point lying there with no covers. He was already starting to get chills, which didn't mix too nicely with his sweat-dampened night clothes.

He pulled himself up slowly, feeling the room spin as he lifted his head. Once sitting up, he closed his eyes painfully. "I can't go." He said flatly.

"You can and you will, now come on." Elaine went over to the dresser and pulled out some clothes. She looked at them all carefully before choosing which shirt and pants she liked the best, and then set them on the bed next to him. "You don't have time to take a shower," she told him.

"I can't shower; I'd fall over and drown." Scott said absently.

Elaine gave him a weird look, and felt his head. Scott did not react to her touch in any way; he barely noticed her hand on his forehead at all. "You really are hot," she said, this time not making a joke about his appearance.

"Are you going to get dressed, or am I dressing you too?"

"I can do it," Scott said. He did not move.

Elaine nudged him. "Scott, you need to get going here. Come on, open your eyes."

Scott opened them halfway.

Elaine handed him the shirt she'd gotten out.

Scott took it and let it fall in his lap.

"Scott, we have an appointment. We need to go. Are you going to get dressed or not?"

"I'll wear what I have on." Scott said lazily.

"Oh, no you're not. You are not wearing those old sweats out in public. I refuse. You look terrible."

"Thanks," Scott said, not caring. "I'll go like this."

He started to stand up, but Elaine wouldn't let him. Normally the petite women would be no match for Scott physically, but today she merely had to do was put a hand on his shoulder and he couldn't even try to get up.

Elaine grabbed his t-shirt, pulled it off, and tossed it on the bed. She picked up the shirt she'd chosen and pushed his arms through the sleeves, buttoning up the shirt as she talked to him. "Hmm…it's hard seeing you with no shirt on, Scott. But, we'll get some medicine and fix you right up and you'll be as good as new, and then we can do anything we want."

Scott decided to ignore that. "I hate this shirt," he complained.

"I like it on you. The color is good with your skin tone and makes your cheeks look rosier. It makes you look even cuter."

"Remind me to burn it."

"Scott, stop talking to me with your eyes closed. It's creepy-looking." Elaine told him.

"How about I just stop talking to you altogether?" he responded, his eyes still closed.

"Now you're going to _have_ to stand up 'cause you need to change your pants. Come on,"

Scott slowly and reluctantly stood, pushed his sweatpants down and plopped back onto the bed.

"Scotty, you're starting to annoy me. Come on, wake up a little, this is taking forever and we need to go."

"Well in case you haven't noticed, I feel like crap." Scott said, pulling on the jeans she handed him.

Elaine pursed her lips, looking at him. "Hmm…you really ought to change your boxers, too."

"Oh my God!" Scott said angrily, actually waking up a little and quickly yanking the jeans up over his boxers. "You're already watching me get dressed, can we at least not discuss my underwear?!"

Elaine looked critically at his appearance. "Well, you were wearing those yesterday. It's…_yucky_."

"Yucky? Very mature. Well, good, maybe if you think that's 'yucky' then I'll start doing it all the time, to keep you away." Then, under his breath, he said, "There's something wrong with your stepmom always knowing which _boxers_ you have on."

"All right, are you ready? Come on," Elaine dragged him downstairs. She slipped on her own coat, then roughly yanked his on and ordered, "Zip it up."

"Wait, can't I have some juice? I'm thirsty." Scott said.

Elaine sighed impatiently. "Ugh, fine, but don't you dare sit down or I'll never be able to get you back up!" Elaine left him standing at door and went to the kitchen, poured a cup of orange juice, screwed a plastic lid over it and rushed back. "Here," she thrust it at him.

Scott didn't thank her. He followed her outside and stood blinking in the blinding sunlight while she locked the door, then he slowly followed her to the car.

Even though he really felt too sick to care, he was almost enjoying being incredibly slow. He knew it was annoying her, and the slower he was, the more annoyed she became. He took an extra long time opening the passenger side door and climbing in. Elaine had already started the car and was jiggling her leg impatiently.

"Scott, it's like, three minutes till your appointment."

"Not my problem," Scott said leaning back.

"You know the later we are, the faster I drive," she said, backing out the driveway. Then she looked over at him. "You don't have your seatbelt on."

Scott shrugged and slowly started pulling the seatbelt strap across himself.

Elaine impatiently reached over, grabbed it, and stuck it in the catch. "Believe me, you're gonna need it."

-----------------------------------------------------

Elaine double-parked, dragged Scott up to the building, and put on her concerned mother face before she opened the door. She acted calm and collected once inside, leading Scott over to the green plastic chairs and patting his shoulder before going up to the receptionist.

She came back a second later, saying, "She said we can go on in."

"We?" Scott asked hoarsely, all the talking had done him in.

"Yes, _we_. I'm not letting you go in there alone." Elaine said under her breath.

"Sweetheart, let me help you with your coat," she said a little louder, starting to take Scott's coat from him.

Scott didn't care; he was used to her two-sidedness. It made him angry, but he was also used to the anger.

She led him down the hallway, following the receptionist. The receptionist made him stand on a big scale to weigh him, then took his pulse and temperature. She then turned to Elaine.

"Mrs. Barringer, you can wait right out here while he sees the doctor," she said, pointing to a couple of chairs just outside of one of the examining rooms.

"Well, I think Scott wants me to stay with him, don't you, sweetheart?" Elaine replied, as if she wasn't sure what Scott wanted.

Before Scott could say anything, Elaine reached around as if she was putting her arm around him, but her hold was hard and entrapping. To anyone else she just looked like a doting mother, but to Scott her arm around him was nothing short of bondage.

He would much rather have liked to go in alone. But, the fact of the matter was, he knew that after the doctor appointment was over, he was going home to Elaine. So, Scott, like any other child in an abusive situation, placated his abuser.

"I want her to stay with me," he said sullenly.

Elaine smiled approvingly and followed him into the exam room. She sat down and got out her compact to check her makeup before the doctor came in. Scott just closed his eyes and tried not to think about the way his throat was burning.

The receptionist poked her head in after a moment and said "Scott's regular pediatrician, Dr. Hoskett, is running late in another appointment- do you mind having another doctor?"

She wasn't asking Scott, she was looking to Elaine for an answer.

Scott watched her carefully, and no one else but him would have noticed the very brief look of displeasure that crossed Elaine's face before she replaced it with a warm smile. Dr. Hoskett was an attractive man. But before anyone else but Scott would even have noticed that expression, Elaine changed it to a charming smile. Elaine dropped her compact back into her purse and said, "Of course we don't mind seeing a different doctor."

The receptionist closed the door again and left them. Scott couldn't help it, he started laughing.

"_What?_" Elaine snapped, clearly disappointed in not getting to flirt with Dr. Hoskett.

Scott kept laughing. "I'm laughing at something I just realized- the fact that you are having _sex_ with someone who _still goes to a_ _pediatrician!_ You're having sex with someone who still goes to a doctor for _children_! Isn't that funny to you? Did you ever think of that?" Scott laughed again.

Elaine jumped up, got into his face, and began whispering furiously to him. "Scott, _shut up_! They could have heard you out there! Don't you dare say another word about that!"

As soon as she finished her sentence the door opened and a female doctor walked in. She wasn't that young, and not terribly attractive, but Scott felt his stomach flip flop at the thought of her touching him.

The Doctor looked a little startled, as if she had walked in on something. Elaine backed away a step and lovingly brushed some of Scott's hair out of his eyes, as if she had been talking nicely to him instead of yelling. She smiled at the doctor.

"Mrs. Barringer? I'm Dr. Hogan; I'll be taking the place of Dr. Hoskett if that's all right with you."

"Hi," she said, "Thank you for seeing us. You can call me Elaine, and this is my stepson, Scott," Elaine motioned toward him.

"Hi Scott, how are you feeling?" The doctor said, moving closer to him.

Scott shrugged. "I wouldn't be here if I felt good, would I?"

Dr. Hogan smiled. "No, you wouldn't. So what are we dealing with? Your throat seems to be hurting pretty bad."

Scott started to talk, but when he opened his mouth Elaine started in. "Doctor, he's had a high grade fever since yesterday afternoon, with a sore throat, headache, night sweats, and chills." She made a face. "My poor baby…"

Scott looked down.

The doctor listened to his heart and breathing, the stethoscope cold on his skin. He sat stiffly and was sure his breathing wasn't coming out normally because of his anxiety over the female doctor standing so close and reaching into his shirt. The doctor stopped and pulled away, looking at him quizzically, but didn't say anything.

"Scott, I'm going to see if your glands feel swollen, okay?" Scott nodded and tried to focus on his breathing. The doctor put her hands up to his neck, and Scott instinctively pulled away from her touch. She stopped, sort of held her hands up to him as if to say, "is this okay?" and then she slowly moved back in to touch him. Scott could see Elaine shooting him "warning" signals with her eyes from behind the doctor. Scott thought about other things as the doctor felt his neck. In a second, she was done and made a face like she felt sorry for him. "Yeah, you're pretty swollen. Let's take a look at your throat. Has anything else been hurting too, Scott?"

"Um…" Scott couldn't think. "No", he finally said.

"I'll check your eyes, ears, nose, and throat now, okay?" She said, trying to sound calm. The boy's heart had been racing.

Afterward, she said she would need to do a throat culture, and left to get the materials. Before coming back, she stopped by the reception desk and asked the receptionist to do her a little favor.

Only a few seconds after she returned to the exam room, the receptionist poked her head in. "Mrs. Barringer," she asked, "Our records need to be updated. Would you mind stepping out for a few minutes to do that?"

Elaine looked at her, then back at Scott, torn. "I'd rather do that after Scott's finished here," she explained.

The receptionist said, "It will just take a few minutes, and if you do it now, then you can leave right after Scott's appointment instead of staying to fill them out then. I'm sure Scott wants to get home and rest." She smiled understandingly at Scott.

Elaine looked reluctant, but seemed unsure of what to say. "Of course," she finally said.

She stood up to go, but said to Scott, "Will you be all right in here by yourself?" It was clearly more of a warning than a question of concern.

Scott nodded.

Once the door was closed, the doctor explained how a throat culture worked and what she would be doing. Having a swab forced into his throat hurt, and made him gag, but when it was over she gave him a liquid that numbed his throat and for a few minutes, at least, it stopped hurting.

Then the doctor sat down across from Scott and looked at him. "That will wear off, but at least for a little while it won't hurt so much."

"Thanks," Scott said.

"Scott, has anything else been bothering you, besides your illness?"

Scott felt alarmed, the way he always did when someone was close to guessing the truth.

"No," he said quickly, not looking at her.

"Are you sure? Nothing at school, at home…" Scott shook his head. "Where's your dad, at work?"

"No. He's gone." Scott answered.

"Gone where?"

"On a business trip for two weeks," Scott explained. He started kicking his feet, letting them bounce off the back of the exam table and listening to the hollow metal clang.

"How are you doing with your stepmom then? Has she been taking good care of you?" The doctor questioned.

Scott nodded without saying anything.

"Have you been sleeping well?" The doctor asked.

"What is all this?" Scott finally asked. "It has nothing to do with my throat."

"Doctors aren't just concerned with their patient's physical symptoms, Scott. Your emotional well-being is also important. If anything is wrong, it's a good idea to let your doctor know, because they can help you know what to do about it, ok?"

Scott shrugged. "Nothing is wrong."

The doctor pursed her lips. "You seemed very uncomfortable during your examination. Your heartbeat was racing and you were breathing heavily."

"Doctors make me nervous." Scott lied.

"Well, all right," Dr. Hogan said. "Lots of people are like that. It's just, there's nothing in your chart about being uncomfortable with doctors, and I know Dr. Hoskett typically includes things like fear of doctors in the patient's chart, so that if another doctor works with them, like now, they'll be prepared for it."

Scott shrugged. "Dr. Hoskett made a mistake."

"Really? Because it isn't just with me. You seemed a little nervous with your step mom too."

Scott kicked his feet on the bottom of the table some more. "Can I go now?" he said irritably.

"Well, yes, you can if you'd like. I don't have anything else I need to do."

Scott started to jump down from the table, but hesitated. Obviously she had noticed something was wrong with him. How obvious was it?

"What it is, Scott?" Dr. Hogan asked, noticing Scott had stopped to think.

"Nothing," Scott said slowly. "Just...do doctors really follow, you know, that whole confidentiality thing?"

Dr. Hogan responded carefully, "Doctors are required to keep medical information private, and not discuss things you tell them with other people, except in cases where the patient could be in danger, in which case the doctor is required to take action."

"When is that? Like what danger?" Scott wanted to know.

"Well, thoughts of suicide, violence toward others, any form of abuse…"

"Oh," Scott said. Sitting there, face to face, with the doctor and telling her what was happening was something he wasn't sure he could do anyway, but there was no chance at all he would if she was required to report it to someone.

"I wanna go home." He said sullenly, having given up.

Dr. Hogan regarded him for a moment, then said, "Okay." She followed him out of the exam room and into the lobby where Elaine was just finishing up answering questions.

She jumped up at the sight of him, overly concerned with how he had been alone with the doctor. "Are you all right, Scotty?" she asked, touching his arm.

Scott instinctively pulled away from her touch, and Dr. Hogan noticed. She tried not to react to it, though. Instead, she turned to Elaine, gave her Scott's prescription, a note for school, and instructions on what he would need.

Elaine wasted no time. The second they were in the car with the doors shut, she turned to him and demanded, "What did she say?"

Scott leaned back in his seat and sighed. The trip had worn him out. "Nothing."

Elaine shook her head impatiently. "You're lying."

"I am not. She asked if I was having any stress about anything with school or whatever and I said no. See? I didn't say anything."

"You're going to have to be more careful, Scotty. If she noticed something is wrong, than other people might notice too. You've got to watch that. Understand?"

Scott nodded. He felt mad at himself for listening to Elaine; it made him feel like her secret accomplice, as if he was consenting to the activity. But, on the other hand, how could he release the secret he was holding? No, there were too many bad things that could happen if he did that. It was better just to deal with this the best he could for the time being.

------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, wow that was long!!! I'm surprised I've had energy for it; the kid hasn't been too well so I've been up all night for the past 3 days!! Dead tired here! …oh, anyway…If you think it is weird to still be seeing a pediatrician when you're 16, most medical practices recommend that your child keep seeing a pediatrician through 16 years old (some said 18 years old), unless you are going to someone who specializes in Adolescent Care, in which case you could switch to that once they are a teenager. Also, Scott doesn't go to the dentist in the story, but I just thought it was interesting that pediatric dentists are all the way up to age 20-22 usually. You'd think it would be younger. Just thought that was sort of interesting.


	4. Chapter 4: I'll always have you

CHAPTER 4

Author's Note: Sorry for the HUGE delay in writing more. I am taking classes right now and they're pretty much consuming all my energy.

By the way, does anyone else wish that Higher Ground was put back on the air? I'd love to see it again.

Chapter 4…

"The doctor said that you should start to feel better within twenty-four hours of your first dose," Elaine said, opening the medicine bottle. "Now, you have to take this with food, so what do you want to eat?"

"Nothing," Scott said. There was no way he could get any food past the lump in his throat.

Elaine sighed impatiently. If Scott had the energy, he'd roll his eyes. He couldn't stand how she got so impatient so quickly. She was like a little kid.

"Well, whatever, I'm bringing you something," she said, and left.

Once she was gone, Scott reached for the phone and dialed his dad's number.

"Hey, this is Martin Barringer-"

"Dad, I need-"

"I'm not here right now, so if you'll leave a message after the beep, I'll call you back as soon as I can."

Scott sighed and hung up.

Elaine came back in with a bowl of soup and some fruit, and set it next to his bed. "All right, sit up now," she demanded, reaching behind him to pull his pillows up. Scott jerked out of the way so that she wouldn't touch him.

She put the tray on his lap and sat down next to him. "Go on, eat" she said.

Scott hesitantly took a spoonful of soup. It was Campbell's, and Elaine hadn't heated it properly. It was cold in the middle and hot around the edges. Scott didn't care. He finished it, painfully swallowed his pill, and lay back down.

He thought Elaine would go away, but she just sat there. "Don't you have something to do? You could go spend more of my dad's money. You're good at that."

"No, I want to stay with you." Elaine moved closer to him on the bed and put a hand on his back.

"Why?" Scott asked, scooting away.

"Because, honey, I'm taking care of you."

Scott laughed. "I'll get better a whole lot faster with you out of my way."

Elaine started to rub his back. Scott couldn't tell if she was deranged and really thought she was helping him, or if she knew how uncomfortable she was making him and she used that as punishment.

Scott shifted. "Stop touching me. You're gonna make me throw up."

"Fine," Elaine said pouting. Scott knew he had made her angry. She leaned over and got down low to his cheek , her breath grazing his earlobe. "Scotty, I'm feeling lonely, I just want some company."

"Then why don't you make my dad come home early? You know if you whine, he'll give in."

"No, no…I don't want him right now. I want…someone young." Elaine kissed him lightly, seductively, on the earlobe.

Scott turned around. "What's gonna happen when I get too old for you? Are you gonna start patrolling the streets for kids? Or maybe just sneak into the high school and make off with a couple?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Elaine said, smiling possessively. "I have you. I'll always have you." She kissed him on the forehead, then on the chin, the chest…she started to unbutton his shirt.

"What are you doing? You said you didn't want to get sick," Scott said angrily, pushing her away. He turned over, buried his face in his covers, and tried to shut her out.

She ran her fingers down his back then, stopping them at his waist and running her fingers along the inside of his boxers. Scott put his pillow over his head. Elaine slid his boxers down and began running her fingers over his behind. Her fingers were freezing. Scott reached behind him and angrily knocked them away.

"Ouch!" Elaine gasped as Scott's hand hit her fingers. She stared at him, amazed for a moment. He had never hit her. Elaine had told him he could never hit her, because if his dad ever saw bruises or scratches on his precious, delicate wife, all Elaine would have to do is get teary-eyed and say that Scott had hit her in an angry fit, and then Scott would be in a lot more trouble than he was already in.

Elaine, in anger, pushed Scott over so he was face up and then got on top of him, straddling him. "Don't you ever, ever hit me, Scott. If you hit me, you know what's going to happen to you? Your dad's gonna find out you have a little problem with violence and he's going to send you off to one of those wilderness camp places. Kids have died in those. They're horrible, awful places and he wouldn't think twice about sending you there if you hit me."

"I could tell about you."

"Don't be ridiculous, Scott. If you go cry rape to someone, I could just as easily say that you forced yourself on me and I did everything to defend myself but you're a lot stronger. I'll do it. I'll say that you raped me. Who do you think people are going to believe?"

Scott didn't answer. He knew she was right. If there was sexual abuse between Scott and Elaine, no one would believe that it was Elaine who was the abuser.

Elaine, still straddling him, lifted one hand and began running her fingers through his hair. "You're so adorable, Scott." She leaned down to kiss him.

Scott resisted her. "I thought you didn't want to catch my sickness."

"I won't kiss you on the mouth." Elaine leaned down and kissed him on the neck. She smiled. "I'll be careful."

Endnote- Okay not the best chapter. I have a good idea but I'm not sure how to take it from where it is and get it to where I want it to go. I'll work on it.


	5. Chapter 5: Secrets she keeps

AUTHORS NOTE:

Okay, guys. This takes place the following day, and it's going to start out a little differently than before. Hope you like it. For my next trick, I WILL NOW DIG AROUND IN "ELAINE'S" HEAD!! We'll see how that goes.

Oh, and I decided to give the chapters titles, only I don't know how to go back and change previous chapters. So if anyone knows, please tell. :-) And now, Chapter 5!!

WARNING: The content of this chapter should be rated a little higher than previous chapters. I didn't notice while writing it, but...it's a tad more graphic.

CHAPTER 5 of "Unforgivable"...…

"SECRETS SHE KEEPS"

Elaine woke up in the early morning- _too early_, she thought, hearing birds chirping as they woke up outside her windows. Oh well, she could go back to sleep. But it was nice waking up next to someone for a change. Her husband was always up before sunrise to get ready for work, and by the time Elaine woke up, there was only an empty depression left in the place next to her in the bed they shared. It made her lonely, and she usually would roll over onto Martin's side of the bed after he was gone, curling up in the warm place he'd left, just breathing in his scent. It helped, feeling his body heat and breathing in the scent of him, but still- it was a very lonely feeling to know you were alone. It really was nicer waking up with someone next to you. Elaine wanted to go back to sleep, but she kept her eyes open a moment longer, just to look upon this strange but welcome sight, enjoying the thought that for once, she wasn't alone.

Everything in her and Martin's bedroom was the same, of course, except this time, instead an empty space where Martin would have been, it was Scott's boyish figure, outlined in the dusky gray light that always seeped into a room just before dawn. He looked peaceful, she thought, lying in a ball, nude, with nothing but a light sheet covering him. She knew that generally, after their nights together, Scott immediately went to the bathroom to wash and then put on pajamas before he went back to bed to try to sleep. She had never had the opportunity to stay and relax and cuddle with him after their time together, because she knew Martin would be upset if he discovered them. So, it was nice to have fallen asleep together afterward, naked and wrapped in each other's arms.

Elaine just hoped that her excursion wouldn't leave her sick. She absolutely abhorred being sick. Back when she was a little girl, other children had talked gloriously about times they'd pretended to be sick so they could stay home from school, but never Elaine. Most of Elaine's classmates had mothers who stayed at home to care for them, but not Elaine- her mother had to go to work. She had her father, a stay-at-home dad, but that wasn't the same thing. She hated for her mother to leave her.

Elaine rolled over and snuggled against Scott, who was still asleep. She would never leave Scott. Not the way her mother had left her. Not the way Scott's mother had left him. Not the way even Martin left them both for his frequent business trips. And Scott, poor motherless baby, she thought, would always have her. Just as she'd promised him the day before- "_I have you. I'll always have you_." Scott let out a troubled sigh in his sleep, and Elaine moved his hair out of his eyes, lightly brushing his pretty eyelashes as she did.

Elaine was feeling a little depressed. Martin said he loved her, but he was always leaving her. Didn't he know how much she needed him? It wasn't as if she was alone, of course, and it did give her more time to bond with Scott, but still, it wasn't right. She missed him terribly.

But, if Elaine was anything, she was resilient. She knew there were things that made her feel better, and so she did them. That was how she dealt with the blues. There was shopping, of course- she always got a thrill from spending lots of money. And driving fast in nice cars. That gave her a thrill too. And then there was Scott. She knew he was having some troubles in school and football, but he was a good kid. She loved him. He was her other source of strength. She always felt a lot less depressed after having some alone time with him. Sometimes he was a little hesitant with her, like last night when she'd begun kissing his earlobe. But eventually she'd coaxed him into getting into her and Martin's bed. And once things got going, it was obvious to her that he was enjoying himself.

Now, after a night with him, waking up to his familiar and comforting scent, Elaine should have felt all better. Being with Scott _had_ helped a lot, but she was still a little down. Scott was facing away from her, with Elaine snuggled against his back. Maybe if she was facing him, she'd feel happier. She moved to the other side of the bed, Martin's side, and squeezed in. She wrapped her arms around the boy, thinking to herself that there was nothing better than the feeling of his warm little body snuggled against her. With that last happy thought, Elaine closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.

When she woke up later, Scott was gone and the bed was cold. _Like father, like son_, Elaine thought. She struggled out of bed, too, and wrapped a sheer, silky dressing gown around herself. She stopped in the bathroom before heading downstairs, so that she could put on makeup and fluff up her hair. But she was going to keep on her nightie for a while. She loved to flirt with Scotty. She loved how she felt when she knew he was looking.

Scott was lying on the couch down in the living room with the morning cartoons playing on the television. He looked a little better, though still pale and listless. He looked freshly showered and had on clean pajamas. He did not look up when Elaine came into the room.

"Scotty, would you like some French toast?" She asked, tilting her head to one side and jutting out her hip in a sexy pose. Scott still wouldn't look at her. "No", he said. His voice cracked only a little; his throat must be getting better. Elaine frowned, but only for a second. "Well, I think you should eat something hot. How about some scrambled eggs?" She offered.

"I don't want anything from you!" He almost yelled. Elaine recoiled and went back to the kitchen. Maybe she was wrong to have done what she did with him last night. The poor baby hadn't gotten enough sleep. No wonder he was grouchy. She put a pan on for scrambled eggs. Maybe Scott would eat them once they were made.

Elaine was not a good cook. The eggs were runny in some places and burnt in others. But that was okay. Scott would probably eat them if she told him to. That was one of the things she liked about her stepson. She didn't have to be perfect around him; he would stay with her no matter what.

Elaine was just finishing with the eggs and putting them onto a plate for Scott when she heard a noise. She and Scott both realized what it was at the exact same second: A garage door being opened. Two hearts stopped.

"Your father," Elaine gasped, though she needn't have said it; they both knew who it had to be.

"Your sheets," Scott yelped at the same moment. Scott felt paralyzed by fear. He had to change the sheets. He had to.

He knocked over his cereal bowl in an attempt to get up quickly, and made the leftover milk and soggy cereal splash out all over the new carpet and himself. "Shit," Scott said, panicking. He picked the bowl up off the floor- he had no clue where the spoon had flown when it fell- and ran to the kitchen. His dad walked in then. His dad's face was one of shock. He was standing in the doorway from the garage to the kitchen, carrying his briefcase and carry-on luggage in one hand and his coat thrown over his wheeled suitcase, faced with a boy who had milk all over his pajamas and bits of soggy corn flakes falling off of him, and a barefoot, scantily-clad young wife who was holding a frying pan in one hand and looked scared to death. There were scrambled eggs lying all around her feet.

"What's...what's going on?" Martin said, looking from one to the other. They both looked terrified.

"Nothing," Elaine broke into a big, strained smile. "I'm just so surprised...I...I thought you weren't coming home for a while, honey."

"I cut the trip short and took an early flight so I could get back to my wonderful family. I know you didn't really want me to go on this trip, either of you, and I felt bad doing it. But what happened here?" Martin was looking from one to the other.

"Uh, well, Scotty's sick, and I've- uh, I've been taking care of him. I didn't call you about it because I knew your trip was so important-"

"No...I meant what happened here, in the kitchen? It looks like you two had quite a scare." Martin smiled nervously.

"No, I, uh, I dropped the eggs. You know me, can't trust me with anything!" She laughed and threw Scott a look, as if to signal him to say something useful.

"She scared me. When she dropped the eggs I dropped my cereal. Sorry. I'll go clean it up." Scott said in a robotic voice, then grabbed some paper towels from the kitchen counter and went into the living room.

Martin followed him. "Scott, on the _new_ carpet?! Really? You'd better hope that comes out!"

"Martin, it'll be okay, it's just milk," Elaine said softly, touching his arm to cool his anger.

Martin sighed, "Okay, fine, whatever...just, Scott, be more careful."

Then Martin turned to Elaine, whispering, "Honey, don't you think that's a little revealing to be wearing around a kid?"

Scott bit his lip to keep from laughing. If only his father knew, he'd seen far more than that of Elaine's body.

But in a second he wasn't laughing- Martin said, "Well, I guess I'll get my things upstairs and unpack."

Elaine shouted "No!" and Scott rushed ahead of him to block the stairs.

"Uh, dad, it's a mess up there," Scott said, looking absolutely ill.

"Martin, I haven't had a chance to clean anything up there, the bed's not even made..."

"Oh, you shouldn't worry about that, I just want to get my stuff put away and relax." He moved past Scott on the stairs and went up, bringing his luggage along behind him.

Scott and Elaine exchanged a worried look.

As Martin passed Scott's room, he said pleasantly, "Well, Scott, it looks like for once you haven't had trouble making your bed. It doesn't even look like it was slept in!"

It was true. Elaine had made Scott's bed since he had been laying in it, and he hadn't actually slept in it last night- he'd been in his parent's room.

Martin stepped into his and Elaine's room and looked around, stunned. Elaine hadn't cleaned the room since Martin left, so there were clothes and wet towels and other things spread around the room, but besides that, because of the wild sexual acts that had been performed in the bed, the covers were now on the floor, the top sheet was balled up, and the bottom sheet looked a little wet and stained. There was a brightly-colored condom wrapper on the floor, Elaine rushed over and pushed it under the bed with her foot.

Martin was quiet for a minute. He walked closer to the bed. "Elaine, what happened here?" He sounded strangely quiet.

Elaine didn't know what to say. "Well, uh, Martin, I told you- Scotty's sick, and, well, I thought he'd be more comfortable sleeping in here with the big bed and the t.v. and everything..."

"He's been sleeping with you?" Martin had a funny look on his face.

"No, of course not. I slept in his bed instead. That's why his is made up all nicely and this one isn't. But you can't expect him to make up the bed when he isn't feeling well. I was going to do it for him but I just didn't have time to get around to it yet..."

Her voice trailed off as Martin leaned down to get a closer look at his bed. Elaine and Scott were holding their breathe, each praying he wouldn't see the wrapper Elaine had tucked under the bedruffle. "What happened here? It looks like...Scott, you- you- you didn't- in my bed-" At first Scott didn't have a clue what his father was talking about. He didn't _what?_ He could only lunge to get out of the way of his father's hand whooshing through the air toward him.

"Martin!" came Elaine's high-pitched scream. She jumped at the sudden movement, her hands flying over her face. "Martin, don't!" She tried to get between them.

"These stains on the sheets- the little pervert's been offing himself in _our_ bed, Elaine! _Our_ bed! Where we sleep! Where we-" Martin stopped and shook his head as if to shake out the knowledge.

Elaine pursed her lips. How should she handle this? Apparently he had not seen the condom wrapper, he'd only seen the drying spots on the bedsheets. Of course she couldn't let Martin suspect anything. "Martin, honey," she said, trying to use a soothing voice to calm him, "I know it's a little...unpleasant...but I can wash them. Or we can buy new sheets if you'd rather that. And please don't be angry with Scotty, he's a teenage boy, he's full of hormones, and I'm sure you'd rather him do this than be with some girl and take the chance of getting her pregnant, right?"

Martin took a deep breath. "He didn't have to do it in our bed, Elaine."

"No," Elaine agreed, looking hard at Scott's hurt and angry face. "No, you're right, he did not have to do that to himself in our bed. Scott, that was very wrong of you."

"Dad-" Scott began, but his father looked at him with such contempt that Scott turned away, fighting unshed tears, and stomped out of the room.

Martin looked at Elaine, shook his head, and sighed. Elaine gave him a supportive hug.

Back in his room, Scott paced angrily, kicked the wall, and threw a few random things that later he'd regret. It wasn't enough that he had, once again, given in to his stepmother's advances, but this time he had actually had sex with his father's wife _in the married couple's bed_. Scott couldn't feel like a lower form of life. He felt completely worthless, used, dirty. Worst of all, he felt like a traitor to his father. He picked up his pillow and threw it, picked it up again and smacked it against the headboard of his bed, grabbed it and balled it up in his fists, pulled it and ripped out some of the fluff. Then, not left with any other ways to take it out on his pillow, he finally threw himself down on his bed and put the pillow over his head so that no one would hear his sobs.

AUTHOR'S NOTE. Heavy, huh? Poor baby. And Elaine is still not redeemed. It's late. I worked on this wayyy longer than I meant to. But it's okay. There's always tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6: I can't do this anymore

Author's Note:

Let me say that in regard to my latest reviews, yes, I understand what you're saying about Scott's stepmom and Shelby's stepdad. The question asked in the synopsis, "Can Scott ever forgive his stepmother? Is there anything Elaine can do to redeem herself?" is a QUESTION that is to be explored. My story is not so much about making nice with Elaine. My story is about Scott being able to heal and move on, and Elaine's perspective on this. Maybe Scott can't forgive her, or maybe eventually he will forgive her just so he's able to move on with his life and not be bothered by her anymore.

CHAPTER 6 OF UNFORGIVABLE

Chapter 6- "I Can't Do This Anymore"

For the rest of the day, Scott stayed in his room. He slept most of the day, and during his waking hours he felt too drained to do anything but lie on his bed and stare at the ceiling. He never knew what time it was because throughout the day he drifted in and out of sleep. He took his medicine without anyone telling him to, although he wasn't keeping track of time so he probably was overdoing it on the pills and syrups...but he didn't mind the daze it left him in. He needed a way out of his life for a little while. Since his door didn't lock, he really didn't have much of a way of keeping anyone out, and he knew that someone had come in when he was asleep and left a dinner tray on his nightstand by his bed. He didn't eat though. He left the food sitting there, getting cold, and later, when he was asleep again, someone came in to take it away.

The next afternoon, the phone rang at about three o'clock. Martin answered.

"Hello?"

"Martin?" A young woman's voice answered

"…Yes?"

"This is Claire. I'm calling just to invite you and the family out to visit me. I figured your son will be out of school for the summer pretty soon. Do you think you'd be able to come? I'd love to have you all. I haven't gotten a chance to get to know your wife very well."

Martin quickly thought up an excuse. He didn't want to have to go to all the way to Ohio to visit Claire, even if she was the daughter of his closest cousin.

"Well, Claire, that's really nice of you, but unfortunately we're sort of booked up at the beginning of the summer. I've been so busy at the office…"



Claire interrupted on the other end of the line, sounding sad. "Oh. Yeah. Okay. I know it's a long distance to travel, but…I haven't talked to you or your family much since your wedding and my dad's funeral, and…well, since I don't really have much family, I just thought it would be…good…to get together. I understand though."

"Yeah, well, you know how business can be." Martin felt guilty then. He figured it had been hard on Claire, being so young and having her father die of a heart attack, especially since her mother had died when she was young and she didn't really have any family besides Martin.

He was going to try to end the call because he didn't really feel like talking, but now that he felt guilty, he decided he'd talk to her for a little while to ease his guilt. He talked to her for about half an hour before the subject of Scott came up. Claire asked how old Scott was now, how he was doing in school, etc. After talking about Scott a while, Martin let out some of the problems he'd been having with Scott.

"Well, Martin, it sounds like he's a rough time." She said sympathetically.

"I've been the one having a rough time," Martin told her. "I just don't know what to do with him anymore. I've even been looking into some of these wilderness programs."

"Oh, Martin, really?" Claire asked, sounding surprised. "I wouldn't do anything drastic."

"At this point I think we have to do something drastic." Martin said flatly.

"I have a suggestion. It's just a suggestion, but it might work. What about sending Scott out here to me in Ohio for a couple weeks? "

"What?"

"Well, listen- I know, it's kind of an odd sounding idea. But it might be good for him, you know, to get out of the situation for a while- might help him to see it in a new light."

"I don't want him to think he's going on vacation. He's been awful lately, Claire, he's been rude, his grades are terrible, he's skipped school…" Martin was starting to sound upset. "I can't even begin to tell you everything."

"It's not a vacation, Martin. It's pulling him out of the situation so he can get a better perspective on it. I bet he'll even start to miss you two!"

Claire doubted this, but she said it anyway. She remembered being at Martin and his new wife's wedding, as well as at her father's funeral, and what a change had taken place between the two events.

First, at the wedding, Scott seemed happy with his dad and new stepmom, and the family seemed fine.



But several months later, at her father's funeral, the family seemed very strained and unhappy with each other. Claire thought she could be wrong (she was lost in her own grief at that funeral) and maybe the family was just strained because they were, after all, at a funeral, and nobody's happy when they're at a funeral.

But Claire couldn't put her finger on it, it just seemed like there was more to it.

But whatever it was, no matter how bad Scott was acting, Claire was not the sort of person to blame the child.

"Well, Claire…I don't know…maybe it WOULD be a good thing. Sending him to a relative is less drastic than sending him to one of those wilderness places…and this could be a wake-up call to him. It might be all he needs. And if it doesn't work, I could always still send him to one of those programs. But one thing is sure… someone else has to deal with him. Anything I've done hasn't worked. I can't do this anymore."

"Martin, don't worry- I'm family, and I'm here to help."

Martin sighed. "Thank you, Claire. I'm sorry I said I couldn't get out there to visit you…but maybe in a couple of weeks when school's over, I'll send Scott. Family would be better than one of those wilderness places…I talked to Elaine about those places, and I was pretty set on it, but Elaine said she saw no reason to 'air our dirty laundry in public'. Whatever Scott's problem is, you are our family- you're not some stranger making judgments about the way I've raised my son. You know me and you know that everything I do is in his best interest."

"Of course," Claire agreed.

"Well, I'll tell Elaine about this tonight. I don't know what Scott will think, but after talking to you, I feel a lot better. Maybe this would be a good thing for him. Thanks Claire."

"No problem. We're family."

"Who is this lady?" Scott demanded.

"That's right, you haven't really met her. I mean, you've seen her at a couple family functions but I don't think you've ever actually talked to her. But back when you were a baby, we used to get together a lot. I haven't seen her in a long time myself, actually."

"So you're shipping me off to live with some stranger?!"

"She's not a stranger; she's David's daughter." Martin reminded him.

"David who?!" Scott asked.

"David, my cousin David. You were at his funeral, he died last year of a heart attack. Wonderful man. He was only about five years older than I am, too, but didn't take care of his health. Anyway, you know how close we were."

"Close? Yeah, you saw him all of twice a year."

"Scott, we grew up together. Anyway," Martin went on, sounding exasperated, "Claire called me a couple weeks ago, just to get in touch with us. We got to talking, and I let her know about some of the problems we'd be having with you-"

"Dad!"

"-And she suggested that a change of pace would do you good. So…we decided that you ought to go out and visit Claire for a while."

"How long is a while?" Scott asked suspiciously.

"A couple, maybe three, weeks. We'll see. It will do you good."

Scott said angrily, "I can't believe you're dumping me on some long-lost relative so you can have the house empty to cozy up with your little whore."

Martin looked ready to smack him, but he held back. "Scott, don't you dare talk about Elaine that way. She is your mother-"

"She is NOT my mother-"

"I meant she is your stepmother, and she is my wife, and you will treat her with respect. This conversation is over. First thing in the morning we're taking you to the airport and you're flying out to Ohio-"

"OHIO?!"

"You're flying out to Ohio and staying with Claire. Some time with you out of the house will do us all some good."

Those words stung Scott into silence. He stalked off to his room, and by the time he got there, he was already planning on running away. But then his father's words came back to him with a new meaning. "Time with you out of the house"…wasn't that what he wanted? No, what he really wanted was for Elaine to get out of the house. But that was almost too much to hope for. And there was nothing he could do about it. So, he realized, he would be leaving. He'd get to leave. He'd go far away, where nobody would know what he used to be, and nobody would be looking at him as a failure and a disappointment. Nobody there would know Elaine, or what a sick, deceitful person she was and how cleverly she concealed her lies.



And then, Scott reasoned, if he didn't like this Claire lady, he could always split once he got there. He'd be in Ohio by then, far away from home. Maybe he'd even leave in the airport when he got there- that way, nobody would catch him, he'd get a head start. He started to pack.

That night, Elaine came into his room.

"Scotty," she said, sitting on the edge of his bed and sliding her arms around his waist, "What will I do without you?"

Scott rolled over to face her. He could be brave now that he knew he was getting out of there. "Leave me alone, Elaine."

She looked surprised, then hurt. "You don't mean that, Scotty. You want to have a nice goodbye, don't you?"

Scott turned away from her. "Say goodbye at the airport tomorrow, in front of my dad."

Elaine walked her fingers up his spine. "I will, I will. But I thought you and I could have our own private little farewell party right here." She laughed softly.

Scott clenched his teeth. "No way, skank."

"Hmmm, I don't really remember asking you." She stopped her fingers at his neck and leaned forward, kissing him hard on his neck.

"Stop." He said. "Just go back to bed. Go back to my dad."

Elaine pouted. "Scotty, I saw the way you were looking at me at dinner tonight. You wanted me then. It's not fair to lead me on if you don't mean it. Now you owe it to me." She sucked at his neck again.

Scott shuddered. "Maybe I'll go get my dad," he said.

Suddenly Elaine looked vicious. She pushed him down from behind and shimmied his boxers off.

Scott felt frozen, like a statue. He knew that later he would beat himself up for losing his nerve, but for now all he could do was roll his head into his pillow and try not to panic.

"You're not going to go get your dad, Scotty. You're going to be a good little boy and do what I tell you. Because you know what will happen if you go blabbing to your daddy."

Scott felt tears form in his eyes as Elaine's hands ran over his lower half and she started to get on top of him, and was ashamed. He started to drift in and out of what she was saying, not sure he 

was really hearing her. He did this a lot when she came into his room, got into his "frozen mode", where he stopped thinking, turned off his brain, and just went through the movement giving her what she wanted like a robot without any emotions.

But Elaine went on, making sure Scott was under her command. "I'm his wife. His soulmate. He loves me more than anyone else in the world. He couldn't be angry. Not with me. He might be upset, though, if his son is getting between him and his wife, and betraying his trust…and you know with everything else that's been going on with you lately, he'll probably just think you forced yourself on me. And then you'd have to be locked up. And we wouldn't want that, now would we? So you just be good and do what you're told, and everything will be fine."

Scott's brain felt foggy. He managed to say, "Elaine, please, I-" he shuddered and tried to go on, "I don't want-"

"But, Scotty, you like it. You know you do. If you didn't like it, then you wouldn't be able to do it. It all comes down to that. Simple biology."

She smiled sweetly at him, and Scott felt sick inside, because he knew she was right. If he really didn't want her, then why, over and over, did he keep reacting to her the way he did?

Elaine went on, "If you tell him about what I'm doing, then you have to tell him about the other part. Why have you done it for so long, Scott? 'Cause you know it makes you feel good, simple as that. It takes two to tango."

Scott's tears were burning in his eyes, but he did the best he could to blink them back. He felt confused. He felt trapped. But he wasn't about to let her see him cry.

"Too much talking," Elaine said.

And with that, she pulled the sheets up over them as if that could conceal their secret, and she slid into his bed- like a serpent into the cradle of the innocent.


	7. Chapter 7: You've certainly changed

Author's note: THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!! If you read my story, PLEASE review, I love getting reviews and I really appreciate everyone who has taken the time to do that. Also if you have any ideas for the story or any constructive criticism, you could include that in your review, because that always helps. :-)

CHAPTER 7- "You've Certainly Changed"

The next day, they put Scott's things into the trunk of the car and drove silently to the airport. Before Scott boarded the plane, Martin gave him a lecture about how to act- well, mostly about how NOT to act- at Claire's house. Martin seemed overly concerned with how Scott's attitude would reflect badly on their family.

When he finally finished his lecture, he gave his son and quick, awkward hug, and Scott hugged back somewhat distantly. Then Elaine came forward and put her perfectly manicured hands on his shoulders. "Scotty," she said sweetly. Scott looked to the side, avoiding her gaze. She leaned in, hugging him, pressing her body against him, and whispered into his ear, breathing purposefully in it. "I'll miss you, baby." Scott did not hug back. His body remained rigid.

Scott watched his father's reaction to the scene in front of him. Martin looked put out and said, "At least you could have hugged her goodbye, Scott. You know she cares about you."

"I'm not gonna miss that skank," Scott said loudly.

"You watch your language, " Martin told him, looking around to see if anyone in the airport had seen. "What's Claire going to think of me if my son shows up talking that way?"

Scott picked up his carry-on bag, ready to leave them. _Anywhere's better than here,_ he thought to himself. And he had stopped caring what people thought of him long ago.

On the plane, Scott closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. All too soon he was landing in Ohio. He began to feel nervous. He sort of remembered his father's cousin David, but he really hadn't remembered that David has a daughter, and try as he might, he couldn't remember meeting her. Scott filed out of the plane along with the other passengers.

Once in the busy airport, he sat down on a chair to think. Should he run now? He was hungry, and his father hadn't given him any money- probably because he knew Scott would take off if he had money to spend. Scott decided he'd better go home with this Claire lady, have a meal or two, and then split.

Just then, a hand tapped him on the shoulder. He stood up and spun around.

"Are you Scott Barringer?" a woman asked.

Scott just stared at her. He had thought she would be older. She was young, probably the same age as Elaine, maybe a year younger. She was thin and pretty. _Too pretty_, Scott thought. Scott didn't trust good looking women. They were always out to get you for something. And the way she looked was too similar to Elaine for Scott to feel comfortable- Same age, thin and pretty, and even somewhat similar features- Elaine had dark brown hair and this woman's hair was light brown, but it was just as long and wavy and thick as Elaine's. Elaine's eyes were brown and this woman's were hazel, but still- the physical resemblance was just too close. He didn't like it.

"Yeah," he said, shaking off the discomfort, "Yeah, I'm Scott"

"I thought so," she smiled. "Your dad emailed me this morning and told me what you were wearing so I'd have an easier time finding you at the airport."

Scott rolled his eyes. His dad had made sure this Claire lady would find him. _No chance of letting me get lost_, he thought sarcastically.

"Wow, Scott, I saw you at your dad's wedding and my dad's funeral, but…I haven't really had a chance to talk to you since you were, what, two, three years old? The adults used to put me in charge of babysitting you at family functions back then. You've certainly changed since then!"

Scott didn't like her saying that. It made him uncomfortable, like she was noticing his body or something. But that was nothing compared to what she did next. She reached around him and gave him a big hug. Scott stiffened at her touch and tried to breathe. If one more woman tried to hug him today, he might suffocate.

Claire immediately released him, looking quizzical, but then she smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry; I should remember that I probably feel like a complete stranger to you!"

She picked up his carry-on and said, "Well, let's go get the rest of your stuff and then we'll get going."

In the car on the way home, Scott asked- or blurted out- "So how come you volunteered to be my jailer?"

Claire looked surprised. "Scott, I'm not a…jailer. When your dad told me what was going on, I thought maybe some time away from home would help. Who knows, maybe you'll even start to miss your wicked stepmother!" She laughed a little.

"I won't," Scott said.

"Well, I didn't sign up to be a jailer. Try to think of this as a trip to visit family. I'm really excited you're here. It'll be fun."

Scott looked over at her. _What did that mean? _He wondered. He watched her uneasily. He didn't like how much she reminded him of Elaine. Would Claire…? He couldn't trust her. He had no idea what her intentions were.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

When they got to Claire's place, which turned out to be a sunny townhouse in a gated community just outside of town, they pulled into the driveway and got out of the car. Scott got his two suitcases and Claire picked up his carry-on again, and unlocked the front door. When she stepped in, she turned off the alarm, then said, "Come on, I'll show you where to put your things, and then I'll show you the rest of the house."

They went up the stairs and down a small hallway. "Here's the guest room, it'll be yours," she said, opening the door to a cozy room painted blue. "Well, you can leave your stuff here, and I'll show you the rest of the house."

They stepped out of the room, and she opened the door next to his. "This is the bathroom. There's only one bathroom up here. There's another downstairs though." Then she pointed out to him the door across the hall as being her room. She didn't open the door to show him though. Maybe that meant he wasn't allowed in her room, and he took that as a good sign. She pointed out where the linen closet was, and then the washer and dryer. Then she took him downstairs and showed him that, too.

"Well, why don't you go unpack, Scott? And when you're done, we'll go out for dinner. That way you can see the town."

Scott went upstairs without a word. He unpacked a few things, but then stopped. Why unpack if he was planning on being out of here soon? He went back downstairs.

"You ready?" Claire asked.

Scott nodded.

They drove into the small town and stopped at a little restaurant called Sunburst Inn.

"This town is dead." Scott commented.

Claire laughed. "Pretty much," she agreed. "This is the only place to eat in town."

They parked in the small lot and went inside. There were a few families scattered about the small restaurant. They were shown a table and ordered their food, and their food came quickly since there wasn't much business.

Claire wasn't able to talk to Scott much, since he seemed unable- or unwilling to talk. He was stuffing his food in as fast as he could.

"So, Scott, tell me about yourself," she finally asked when he seemed close to being finished with his food.

Scott just shrugged.

"What kinds of things are you in to?" she prompted.

Scott stared at her. _What did she mean by that?_

Claire laughed and said, "I'm guessing building towers out of blocks is no longer your favorite activity."

_Oh. Hobbies_. Scott breathed a sigh of relief. He nodded, then looked at his plate. "Um…I don't know…" he said.

Claire prompted again, "Your dad said you love football…or used to, anyway."

Scott nodded without looking at her, then took a drink of his Coke. "Are you married?" he asked

Claire blinked in surprise. That came out of nowhere. "No, I'm not," she said. She paused, then asked, "Why?"

Scott shrugged. "Got a boyfriend?"

Claire said, "Yes, I do. His name is Paul. We've been seeing each other for about six months now."

"Are you gonna marry him?"

"Well, it's too early to-"

"Does he have kids?" Scott demanded, interrupting her.

"No," Claire answered, surprised by all the sudden, demanding questions from the previously silent teen.

Scott simply nodded and went back to his drink.

Claire looked at him for a moment, then, to make conversation, she asked, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Scott shook his head vigorously and pushed his plate away. "We broke up. I'm done. Can we go?"

Apparently Claire had touched on a sore subject. Claire wondered why he had had all those questions, wanting to know if she had a man in her life and if he had kids. It didn't sound like he just wanted to make conversation. He wanted to know for a reason. What the reason was, Claire had no idea.

"Sure, I'm finished too," Claire said.

After they left the restaurant, Claire said, "Let's walk downtown a little and I'll show you what's around here."

Scott followed her "downtown", which consisted of two streets lined with trees and small shops. Kids and dogs were running around freely. _I'm in Mayberry_, Scott thought dryly.

Claire pointed out the coffee shop, the movie theatre, the comic book store, and the ice cream place. Then she said, "Let's go back to the car. I need to show you where the school is so you'll know where you're going."

Scott's head jerked up. He hadn't really been paying much attention, but this got him. "What?"

"For school," she said, looking at him. "Didn't you dad tell you? He wanted you to have something constructive to focus on while you're here, so we you registered for summer school."

Seeing the look on Scott's face- no teenager likes to be told of plans that have been made for them without their knowledge or consent- she said, "It'll be fun, Scott. And you'll meet some of the local kids. Make some friends. It will be good for you."

"Whatever," Scott said angrily. They got back into the car and drove the short distance to the school. It was an old-fashioned looking red brick building with three floors. Scott could see the football field behind it.

"Do you want to go in? That way you'll see where to go."

Scott shrugged.

Claire parked the car and led him in.

"The door's not locked?" Scott asked skeptically.

"Oh, a lot of places don't even bother locking their doors around here," Claire said good naturedly. "Come on in, I'll show you where everything is."

She got a piece of paper out of her purse and looked at the schedule on it. "Your first classroom is down this way." She said.

"Great," Scott thought, following her. "I'm staying with a complete stranger who might try to do anything with me AND I'm spending the summer going to school."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPH

Once back at the town house, Claire asked if Scott was hungry for a snack and he shook his head no. "Well, I'll let you relax and get ready for bed then." She told him. "Don't stay up late, because school starts at eight o'clock sharp tomorrow."

"Fine," Scott said, and went up. He plunked down on the guest room bed and put his headphones on. After a few minutes, the day started to wear on him and he drifted off.

When there was a knock on his door, he jerked awake. Why did he let himself fall asleep? He pulled off his headphones and jumped off the bed.

"Come in," he said awkwardly.

Claire poked her head in. She hadn't gotten ready for bed yet. "I just wanted to see if you were going to turn in soon," she said, with a glance at the clock. "Remember you have school tomorrow."

"Uh- yeah- I want to- to take a shower first-" Scott said.

"Okay, just don't be too long, you need to get some sleep." Claire said

Scott nodded, not looking at her, and pretended to be arranging things on top of the dresser.

"Ok, well, goodnight," Claire said. She paused.

Scott swallowed. What was she waiting for? Oh, god, she wasn't going to try to hug him again, was she?

But all she did was smile at him and say, "I just wanted to tell you again that I'm really glad to have you here." Then she stepped out and closed the door behind her.

It could be perfectly innocent, Scott thought. _I'm family, she's glad to see me, that's all_. But it was hard to convince himself. _I'm glad to have you here_…it sounded like something Elaine would say, like when she told him "What am I going to do without you?" or "I'm really going to miss you".

Scott went in to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. He looked at the bathroom door, but there was no lock on it. That made him want to see if there was a lock on his bedroom door, but there wasn't on there either. _What's wrong with architects and construction workers? _Scott thought_. Why do so many houses not have locks in their doors?!_ He went back into the bathroom and uneasily undressed and got in the shower. When he was finished, he dried off and put his closed back on- no way was he going back out there with just a towel on, even if was only a few steps away. Next time he'd have to remember to bring a bathrobe in with him.

When he went into his room, he took the chair from the desk and shoved it under the doorknob. He hoped this would keep her out just in case there were any problems during the night. Scott stepped back and admired it. Too bad his desk chair at home wasn't designed for being shoved under doorknobs. Although he doubted even that would stop Elaine from getting what she wanted.

Then Scott put on some boxers and a t-shirt and climbed into bed. He set the alarm clock next to the bed so he'd wake up for school, and reminded himself to unload some cash from her house so that he would have some money when he ran away later on.

He turned off the bedside lamp, but he couldn't relax. He tossed and turned for a few minutes before he sat up and turned the lamp back on. He got up to check the door again, and then got back into bed. Well, he could just sleep with the light on. He laid down and put on his headphones. Eventually the music lulled him into an uneasy sleep.

Author's Note: Sorry if that wasn't very interesting! More will happen later, but I couldn't make too much happen when he just got there. Also- Sorry that it is getting kind of AU- I don't usually like AU stories but I got this idea.

Anyway, I'm planning on updating more frequently, because I had a little accident and became injured my tailbone and the top of my head (don't ask) so I can't do anything else besides write my sick story. :-)


	8. Chapter 8: The First Storm

Chpt 8

Scott woke up groggy and with a headache, and with Claire calling him from downstairs. He dressed slowly and trudged down the steps. Claire smiled at him somewhat apologetically. "Sorry, kiddo, I wanted to make you a big breakfast for your first day of school, but we're gonna be late, so you'll have to make do with cereal and toast."

Scott shrugged; he didn't care. He sat down and poured some Mini Wheats out into a bowl and Claire fixed him toast. After he ate, Claire rushed him upstairs to brush his teeth and then out to the car to get to school.

"I hope I didn't make you late for work," Scott said, not sure of what to say to her today. She smiled. "No, I'll make it on time, I just didn't want you to be late…your day starts earlier than mine."

She stopped in front of the school and they sat there a second. Scott felt really awkward. What did she want? She wasn't expecting him to kiss her or something, was she? He didn't know what was expected of him.

Finally Claire asked, "Do you want me to go in with you?"

Scott shook his head. "Nah, I'm okay." He got out and said somewhat awkwardly, "Well…bye."

"Bye, Scott. Have a good day." She waited while he went up to the school and went inside.

Scott trudged up the steps to the school and went down the long dark hallway and into the bright classroom. He sat at an empty table, even though there were plenty of tables with other kids at them. It wasn't too long before a pretty girl with blonde hair came and sat down next to him.

"Hi," she said brightly.

"Hi," Scott replied.

"I'm Kelly," she said. She got out her notebook and opened it and wrote the date and class period on the heading of the first page.

"I'm Scott." Scott answered. He busied himself with getting out his own books.

"I hate summer school. But I hate school too, which is probably why I'm at summer school in the first place." She laughed. Then she said, "What about you? I don't remember you from school, are you new here?" Kelly asked.

"Um…I'm staying with family for the summer. She lives here, and…well, she just wanted me someplace while she goes to work, I guess." Scott shrugged.

The teacher came in, an old guy with a briefcase. "All right, everybody, settle down," he said. "Let's get to work."

At lunch, Scott ate with Kelly because he didn't know anyone else, and another kid joined them, a tall skinny nerdy looking boy named Joey, who Kelly invited to eat with them because he lived in her neighborhood.

When school was over for the day, Scott was glad. It hadn't been horrible, the school work was pretty easy and the teachers tried to make it fun since after all it was summer. And he even seemed to have made a couple friends. But that didn't change anything: he still wanted out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scott decided to make his break that night. He could go to bed but not actually go to sleep- he'd get up again after Claire fell asleep and he could find some money and get out of there.

Unfortunately for Scott, two things happened. One) he really did fall asleep because he had gotten up so early for school, and, Two) that night there was a big storm. He awoke about every two hours to crashes of thunder, and then lay in bed for another hour breathing hard and staring at the clock by his bed just trying to make himself stay "in the present". He found that staring at an object helped him to focus on "now" instead of "then".

He still wanted to run, but he just couldn't make himself go out in the storm.

When he finally had a real sleep, he had a dream. In the dream, he was struggling to break free from something that was binding him, but he couldn't. He was trapped, and he began to sweat and feel choked. He struggled to breathe.

In the dream, he kept looking at his clock, and he knew that he was waiting for something, and he didn't know what, but he was dreading it so much that it made him feel ill.

He called out in his sleep, moaning miserably and mumbling words that couldn't be understood. He was crying in his sleep, sad and fearful of something he couldn't recognize.

Scott stopped twisting and turning as he woke suddenly, hearing "Scott, wake up- - Come on, wake up Scott!" and the lamp beside his bed being switched on.

Startled out of his sleep, he quickly raised up on his elbows, staring into the face of Claire.

He breathed heavily. "Are you sick, honey?" she asked, concerned, reaching a hand out toward his forehead. Scott quickly jerked away, glaring at her, and lifting himself into a sitting position.

Claire pulled her hand away and held them both up in front of him.

"Okay, okay- it's okay, Scott," she went on, sounding terrified. "I just came in because I heard you- you were yelling and crying in your sleep- I- I think you were having a nightmare."

Scott, still glaring at her, didn't say anything, but continued breathing heavily, aware of the sweat running down his forehead.

"Honey, you're soaked. You look like you're burning up. I can't tell if it was just the bad dream or if you've got a fever. I'll be right back, I'm going to take your temperature."

She stood up and headed for the bathroom. Once she was out of sight, Scott looked around the room, trying to control his rapid breathing. His throat burned, and when he saw the cup of water he'd put on his nightstand when he'd gone to bed that night, he grabbed it and drained the glass.

As Claire came back into the room with the thermometer, she asked him, "Do you want me to change your sheets?"

He shook his head. Claire held out the thermometer and Scott stuck it in his mouth.

"Well at least let me get you a new pillow case. There's no reason for you to sleep in a puddle."

She leaned behind him to get his pillow, and he jerked forward to make sure she wouldn't touch him.

She took the pillow and got a new pillow case from his closet. She pulled off the old pillow case and worked the fresh pillow case onto his pillow. Then she set it behind him, saying, "There, that's better."

When the thermometer beeped, Claire reached out to get it, but Scott recoiled slightly and pulled it out himself and handed it to her.

He hoped he wasn't sick. He never knew if he was sick anymore, because he never knew if how he felt was from actual illness or from the battle being raged in his head. But even just having his temperature taken was giving him flashbacks of when he was sick and Elaine was "taking care of him".

Claire glanced at the reading and pursed her lips. "Nope, no fever. I guess you're just warm from all that thrashing around in your sleep. Well, we'll see how you feel in the morning, I guess. Stay here." She went into the bathroom again, taking the old pillow case with her to dump in the hamper.

She came back again with a wet washcloth. She sat down on the side of the bed, and very slowly, outstretched her arm to his face. He felt himself automatically pull away from her, but only slightly, and then he felt the cool cloth on his forehead. He allowed it, he supposed, because he couldn't feel her fingers through the thick cloth. She gently wiped his face of the sweat and tears that had dried on it. He began to feel his eyelids close.

"Scott?" Claire said tentatively.

Scott's eyes flew open. He shouldn't have allowed himself to relax with her. Claire stopped and pulled the cloth away, laying her hands in her lap and looking at him. Scott pulled the covers up protectively around him.

"Your nightmare. Most of what you said was pretty incoherent, but I did hear you say a few strange things. Like 'No, Elaine, I don't want to. Please'. Elaine, she's your stepmom, isn't she?"

Scott's face burned with shame and he looked away from her.

"Would you like to talk about the dream you had?"

Scott looked back at her, alarmed. "No."

"It might help you sleep better if you talk about what's bothering you, what it was that scared you in your dream." Claire suggested.

Scott shook his head quickly. He didn't say anything. Claire watched him carefully, then said, "Well…all right. I guess I'll go back to bed, then. You know, you can come wake me up if you need me for anything. Anything. It doesn't matter what time it is. All right?"

Scott nodded slowly without looking at her.

She lay the wet cloth on his bedside table and started to leave.

She turned back at the door.

"Scott," she said.

He looked at her, standing in the doorway of his room in her pajamas and robe.

"Scott, I don't know what, if anything, happened between you and your stepmother. But what I do know is, whenever something happens- something that _shouldn't_ be happening- between an adult and a child, it's _never_ the child's fault." She paused a moment, then she said, " I hope you know that, too."

Then she smiled at him, softly, somewhat sadly, and shut the door.

Scott stared at the door for a moment, the eased himself back into his pillow. He left the bedside lamp on as he tried to go back to sleep, but to his surprise, he found that he really didn't feel so scared anymore.

AUTHORS NOTE: I feel sort of stupid calling Scott "a child", LOL, but I guess, for all intents and purposes, he is a child. Even if it sounds stupid.


	9. Chapter 9: A Long Way Home

Unforgivable- Chapter 9

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay this note has nothing to do with the story, but I really could use some advice, so when you're done, please help me out but reading the bottom of the page and voting.

CHAPTER 9- "A Long Way Home"

There were two things Claire knew for sure. Scott had a problem, and without a doubt, whatever Scott's problem was, it had something to do with his family, probably with his stepmom. She decided to plan a nice day out with him, in hopes of getting him to talk.

On Saturday, she packed picnic lunches and told him they were going for a ride. But to Scott it felt more like a journey. It took three hours to get to the lake she drove him to. When they finally got there, she led him to a grassy spot on the bank and threw out a red checkered picnic blanket. Scott set down the basket, and, starving now that it was lunchtime, got everything out and started eating. They ate quietly, looking out over the lake and listening to the sounds of the birds in the trees above their heads. When they got finished, Claire said, "Help me pack this up. Then we'll go get our boat."

"Our boat?" Scott asked, looking skeptical.

"Yes, boat. It will fun, you'll see." Claire said cheerfully.

Once they got the little boat, and the man in charge of the loans showed them what to do, they set out. Scott had never been in any kind of boat before, not even at summer camp, but Claire had done it lots of times.

Claire rowed out to the middle of the lake, where it was still and quiet, and then stopped. "Why are we stopping?" Scott asked.

They were facing each other. Claire said, "Oh, I just thought we'd stop here and talk a while."

Scott looked out at the empty expanse around them. He started to get a sinking feeling.

Claire asked, "Does your dad ever do stuff like this with you?"

Scott shook his head. "Mostly we bond over football. Or…used to."

"Just football?" Claire asked

Scott clarified. "Well, when I was little, we did stuff more. Camping, fishing, amusement parks…before he got married."

"And now…" Claire probed.

"Now he's too busy with the skank." Scott looked away.

"Wow, you really don't like her, do you?" Claire raised her eyebrows.

"What do you think?" Scott snapped back at her.

"I think it must have been really hard to deal with your parents splitting up and then to have your dad marry someone so young and so different from your mom…especially so soon after the divorce. It must have felt like a slap in the face. I mean, I haven't been in the situation so I'm not trying to pretend I know what it's like, but…I just think it must be really hard." Claire told him.

"Yeah, well, it was." Scott said.

"Was?" Claire repeated. "So, your dad was wrong- you don't blame Elaine for the divorce?"

"Look, I did at first. But I got over it. If my dad wants to be with the skank, there's nothing I can do about it. It's his mistake." Scott said angrily.

It was quiet for a moment except for the lake sounds, then-

"Your dad seems to think all the problems you've been having are because of him remarrying. But it just seems like there's more to it than that."

Scott was quiet, looking down at the water.

Claire shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong." She was quiet for a second, looking at him, then said quietly, "Scott, I think there's more going on here than you're letting on."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Scott said defensively.

"Only that I'm getting the feeling you're not telling me everything. And that maybe what your dad thinks is going on, isn't what's really going on."

Scott was silent once again.

Claire tried again. "Scott, your dad said you'd had this problem, what? Six, eight months now?"

Scott paused, then nodded.

Claire said gently, "That's a long time. Aren't you tired?" She pursed her lips. "You're unhappy. You're becoming an angry person. Whatever this problem is, it's too big for you to handle by yourself."

Scott said then, almost so quietly that Claire didn't hear him, "I can't talk about it."

"Why?" Claire pressed. "Are you afraid I'll laugh at you or something? Overreact?"

Scott shook his head.

"Okay. Are you afraid I'll go telling everybody?"

Scott shrugged.

Claire's next try was, "Are you afraid of not being believed?"

Scott looked away then, which was what Claire had noticed he did whenever he didn't want to admit to something. She spoke to him again, saying, "Whatever this is, it's making you unhappy. I'm sure you want it to stop. You do want it to stop, don't you?"

"Yes!" Scott said angrily- that got him.

Claire asked gently, "Can you think of a way to make it stop?"

Scott laughed; a dry, hollow laugh. "Drugs," he said.

Claire responded quietly. "That's not funny, Scott."

Then Scott said, somewhat hysterical, "If I could've stopped it, don't you think I would have by now?"

"Then you agree with me."

"Huh?" Scott looked at her, confused.

Claire explained. "When I said this was too big for you to deal with on your own. You agree with me."

Scott stared at her for a long moment, then looked away.

"Good try," he said huskily.

"Good try?" Claire repeated, not knowing what he meant.

"Getting me to talk. The guidance counselor at my school already tried that, when I first started flunking out. Didn't work for him, either."

"Oh." Claire said sadly. Then, "I think I _can _help, Scott. If you can talk to me- even if it scares you, if you can be brave enough to get over that hurdle and tell me what's going on, I really think I'll be able to help. And then we can stop this thing and _get your life back_."

She paused a moment to see his reaction, and then, knowing that sometimes people- especially kids- can open up better if they're not being looked at, she turned away from him to face the front of the boat, as if she just wanted to look out onto the lake.

"The thing is," Scott started slowly, "The thing is, when you've kept quiet so long...when you've gone so long without talking…it can be hard to…to open up."

Claire said softly, "Well, it's a very big lake, and we've got hours before nightfall."

She eased down into the floor so she could lean back against the seat, to appear relaxed. She rested her arms on the sides, and sighed a contented sigh as the sun hit her face.

Scott regarded her for a moment. Then he breathed out slowly. "I don't know..."

Claire had an idea. "I have an idea. Maybe, if it's hard for you to talk, I could just ask you questions. Easy, yes or no questions. That way all you have to say is yes or no. Can we try that? And we can stop whenever you want to."

"You promise?" Scott said.

He sounded so childlike when he said that that it startled Claire. She wanted to look at his face, but didn't.

"Promise about what?" She asked.

"That we'll stop when I want to."

That sounded so odd to Claire. Isn't that what she just told him? Why did he want a promise?

"Of course," she answered.

"Well…okay." Scott said reluctantly. He felt uneasy. But he was out in the middle of the lake, there was nowhere else to go. And Claire didn't seem so threatening, especially not now that he couldn't look directly at her.

"Well, we'll start off easy then. Is football your favorite sport?"

"Yeah."

"Is it true that you aren't allowed to play on your school's football team this year?"

"Yeah."

"Was your dad disappointed?"

"Yeah."

"Was he angry?"

"Yeah."

"With you?"

"Yeah."

"Do you miss it? Football?"

There was a pause, then- "Yeah."

"Did you want to dad to get married again?"

"No."

Did your dad and Elaine date for a long time before they got married?"

"No."

"Did you think your dad was kind of rushing into things?"

"Yeah."

"Did you like Elaine at first?"

There was a pause.

"Scott?"

"I don't know. She was okay, at first. I guess."

"So she changed?"

Scott laughed a little. "Yeah."

"Did your dad change too?"

Scott paused a moment, as if considering. "Yeah," he answered.

"How did they-"

"You said yes or no only!" Scott reminded her before she even got a question out.

"Right. Sorry." Claire agreed.

"Scott, have your parents ever hit you?"

Scott paused, remembering how his dad had never been exactly violent; all the times he'd smacked Scott were because Scott had called Elaine a skank. "Yeah."

Claire wanted to ask which of them had hit him, but assumed it was Martin. She wanted to ask why he'd been hit, but couldn't.

"Does Elaine hit you?"

"No." Scott said shortly.

Claire was surprised, but then figured maybe she'd been wrong- maybe the problem wasn't Elaine, maybe it was Martin hitting Scott.

"Do you think your dad's hit you more since he and Elaine got married?"

Scott laughed a little. "Yeah."

"Have you ever told anyone that your dad's hit you?" Claire asked.

Scott shook his head. "No. And it's not like- I mean, it's not a big deal, he doesn't do it for nothing, he just- look, can we stop?"

Claire paused. Then remembering her promise, she said softly, "Sure."

She scooted back up into her seat and began rowing back to shore. Maybe they'd better go now, anyway. It was a long way home.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Okay here's my dilemma. It's a personal/family issue, but I am at a loss. We are probably going to be moving to Europe at the beginning or middle of September. We're staying at least nine months but it could be a couple of years, possibly. We told the kiddo that I was going, and his response was, "good". !!! I know, can't you feel the love? :-( Well, that's a whole 'nother issue. Anyway, his dad's now decided to come with me so we won't be split up.

Here's the problem. With us gone, if he doesn't come with us then he will be alone, and obviously we can't have that. But we don't know what to do about him and his schooling.

He wants to be left with his grandparents, but the school that he goes to right now…well, he doesn't understand that he would not be allowed to stay there for the next school year if he lives with them. If he goes with us, there's no American schools where we'll be located, and he doesn't speak the language. I'd be fine with him going to a Christian school instead, but again, he doesn't speak the language. The job I got is teaching an English speaking home schooler's group there, so he could join the group, but…I don't think he would be thrilled to be with me like that all day.

So anyway, I have talked to everyone I know about what I should do with him, since decisions like that are pretty much left up to me and me alone (yay me, lol) and everyone has a different opinion so it left me exactly where I started. I decided I just want people to vote on what he should do.

Here are the options, when you review please vote, lol:

1. He comes with us to Europe and we send him to the Christian school and hope he picks up the language quickly, and get him a tutor for it as well. I like that the school is religious but he won't know the language, which is a significant problem. If he goes to school there it would have to be that place…the public schools are really bad and there aren't any American schools there.

2. He comes to Europe with us and joins my school group I'm teaching where at least there'd be other English speaking young people for him to make friends with. This is a good option for me because I wouldn't have to worry about him since he'd be with me all day…but I think that's like the last thing he wants to do.

3. He stays here so he can be at his own home, and we get a live-in nanny. At his age he will not like that, but at least he could stay in his own home and go to his old school. The only thing is, we will be gone for nine months. That's a long time.

4. Or he could go live with his grandparents, which is ok…but I really don't like them. At all. But that's what he wants. The thing is, he'd have to be pulled out of school and enrolled in a different one. To me it's not worth it, plus I don't think he should be away from us that long, I still feel like we should take him with us.

Ok so vote please…because I just don't know what to do with him. I'm not saying I would rely completely on random internet votes, but it would help me decide because I just have no clue. If it matters we're talking about a high schooler.

HGHGHGHG


	10. Chapter 10: The Final Storm

Unforgivable

Author's Note: I added a few chapters together…so make sure you read chapter 9 before this chapter!

And vote to tell me what I should do about my issue I posted in Chpt 9.

HGHGHG

Chapter 10: "The Final Storm"

A couple days later, Scott and Claire were watching a movie together in Claire's living room. During the movie it had started to rain softly, then heavier and heavier until it was a downpour, and Scott had stopped paying attention to the movie. Claire didn't say anything, but she had noticed he was becoming increasingly nervous as the evening went on.

Suddenly with a clap of lightening, the power went out and Scott yelped. They were left in complete darkness.

"Oh, a power outage," Claire said, exasperated. "Just a minute, I'll go get a flashlight."

But next a big roll of thunder roared, so close it felt like the townhouse was shaking. Lightning clapped, illuminating the room. Scott involuntarily jumped off the couch and slid down to the floor. In the fleeting light, Claire could see the look of panic on his young face.

She stopped short of leaving to get a flashlight. "Are you okay?" she asked him.

There was no answer, but in the dark Claire heard his shallow breathing.

"Scott, honey, it's just a storm, it'll be over in a little while. It's okay."

Scott sniffled in a way that sounded as if he was trying _not_ to sniffle.

"I'm going to find a flashlight and light some candles so you won't be in the dark." She started to leave again.

"No!" Scott croaked. He couldn't help the way he reacted to storms, and he didn't want her to be able to _see_ him.

"Okay," Claire slowly, standing in the middle of the dark room, creasing her brow. "I'll just stay here with you. Have you always been nervous during storms, Scott?" She purposely didn't use the word _afraid_, thinking she didn't want to cause him further embarrassment.

Scott shook his head, even though she couldn't see him. "No," he whispered.

Another roar of thunder, and Scott gave a strangled cry.

"Are you still on the couch, Scott? I'm going to come over there and sit with you."

"No," Scott whispered. "Please, please stay away."

"All right," Claire agreed feeling confused.

"No," Scott whispered again.

"I said I wouldn't-" Claire started to say, but was interrupted.

"No," Scott went on, and now Claire understood that he was not talking to her. He was speaking to someone who wasn't there.

"Please-" Scott moaned softly. "You promised you wouldn't do this anymore. You _promised_."

Claire could hear him crying. _He's having some sort of flashback_, she realized.

"Scott?" She said rather forcefully. "Scott, listen to me. You're in the townhouse, and you're safe. Nothing bad can happen to you here."

"But you promised I wouldn't have to do this anymore! You said so!" Scott started to cry openly.

Claire frowned. She guessed he was remembered some time that Martin had hit him, but it didn't sound that way at all. _You promised I wouldn't have to do this anymore_? Have to do _what_? She wondered.

She felt her way over to the couch, where Scott was on the floor, huddled in a ball. Claire placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Scott?" she whispered.

Suddenly Scott jerked away. "Don't touch me, you skank!"

Claire gasped and jumped back as if she'd been slapped. She couldn't believe Scott would say that to her. Unless…who else did he call a skank?

"I'll tell my dad." Scott said painfully.

"Scott!" Claire said, getting down on the floor and grabbing his shoulders.

Scott seemed to hear her. They couldn't see eachother's faces in the darkness of the room, but Scott blinked a moment and then stared around him as if remembering where he was. He breathed heavily for a few seconds, then, feeling Claire's hands on his shoulders, he felt filthy, and wriggled away from her touch.

"Scott? Are you with me? Can you hear me?" Claire asked, frightened.

"Uh-huh," Scott said distractedly.

"You were having…what sounded like…a flashback." Claire told him. "Listen to me. Nobody's here but us two. No one else will hear you. And we're in the dark so you don't have to be looked at. I want you to tell me what's going on. Who's hurting you?"

"No, no, no," Scott moaned, covering his head.

"Hey, listen to me," Claire said, grasping his shoulders again. "It's not your dad who's hitting you, is it? It's Elaine, isn't it? She's gotten violent, and you're afraid to tell your dad she's hurting you. Is that it?"

There was a pause.

Claire tightened her grip on him. "_What's happening at home, Scott_?"

She said it so forcefully, and Scott began to cry again.

"It's not my dad. It's Elaine, it's not my dad." He gulped, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat. "My dad doesn't really hit me, just a few times when I called Elaine names. But he doesn't…I mean, he's not like that, he doesn't really hurt me."

Claire nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "Elaine is the one who's hitting you. But your dad doesn't know."

"No!" Scott's whole body shook. Claire drew him closer, keeping her hands on his shoulders.

"Elaine's _not_ hitting you? I don't understand, what's-"

"She comes into my room at night," Scott forced out, his teeth chattering.

It took Claire a minute to process that.

Her grip loosened.

"Oh, my God," she said as she exhaled.

Then, quickly realizing she needed to keep it together for his sake, she said, "I'm sorry, Scott, I didn't mean to sound so shocked. It's…it's…I'm so glad you told me. You did the right thing. When did she…when did this happen?"

Scott was still shaking. "It started…a couple months after they got married. She…during a storm."

The lightening outside clapped, and Scott jumped a mile.

Claire gripped him tighter, her hands on his shoulders becoming painful. "That's why you're afraid of storms," she realized.

"No." Scott said. "I'm not afraid of storms. I'm not, I swear."

"Okay," Claire accepted.

"She would come in…and say…she was scared…cuz of the thunder."

"Okay," Claire said again, waiting for him to go on.

But Scott started to cry again. "And…and she would…"

"Yeah?" Claire prompted, rubbing his shoulders.

"No, no, I can't." Scott said, shaking out of her touch. "I don't want to talk about this."

"Scott, honey, you don't need to feel embarrassed, okay? If something sexual happened between you and your stepmom, it wasn't your fault. Do you believe me?"

"I didn't mean to," Scott told her. "I didn't want to, I swear. I don't want it, I don't-"

"I know, I know," she consoled, "I believe you, I do. Have you talked to your dad about this?"

Claire could hear that in the darkness Scott had started crying again. "He won't believe me. He'll think I'm lying cuz I didn't want him to get divorced from my mom. And he loves Elaine-"

"He loves you, too," Claire reminded him gently.

"But I betrayed him," Scott said, with fresh tears, sobbing. "Elaine's his wife, and I-"

"Scott," Claire interrupted, "You didn't betray your father. Elaine did."

The thunder crashed close by and lightening flashed, illuminating the room for one split second before becoming dark again. Scott jumped.

"Listen to me, sweetheart," Claire spoke to him, forcing him back to the present. "Elaine married your dad. She's your stepmom. She shouldn't be doing anything sexual with you. It's wrong." Claire swallowed, then went on, "And, besides being your stepmother, she is an adult, and she should not be doing anything sexual with any child. You're sixteen, Scott. There are laws about this sort of thing."

"I know, I know. I know it's wrong," Scott said, sounding miserable. "I didn't want to, I swear-"

"No, Scott, you're missing my point. And you don't have to convince me; I already believe you. Elaine is the one who's guilty here, not you, ok?"

Scott finally seemed to register what she was telling him, and he nodded.

"Claire…please don't tell my dad. You won't, will you? Please?"

Claire paused. "Scott…honey…I can't- I can't keep something like this a secret-"

"No! Nobody can know!" Scott felt more afraid than he'd ever felt in his life.

"But this is – I know it might feel embarrassing, but- this is a crime, and it's hurting you, and the only way to make it stop is to tell the people who can really help."

"My dad won't believe me. I know he won't." Scott moaned.

"Is that what she told you?" Claire asked angrily. "Scott, all molesters try to make their victims feel like no one will believe them. That's how they keep them quiet. Just because she said it, it doesn't mean it's true. Your father loves you-"

"No!" Scott shouted, still terrified. "You don't know, you don't know-"

"What don't I know, Scott?" Claire asked gently.

"That…what she did…wasn't everything." Scott mumbled.

"Okay," Claire said acceptingly. She was trying to act calmer than she felt, because she didn't want Scott to think her anger was directed at _him_. "So what else was there?"

Scott's face burned. He put his head in his hands. "Please, please don't ask me that- I can't-"

Suddenly the lights flickered on- the power was back.

Light flooded the room, showing the two of them sitting knee-to-knee on the floor next to the couch, Scott's face flushed and streaked with tears.

Scott looked up into Claire's face, and in a split second, he had jumped up and ran up the stairs. A moment later, Claire heard a door slam. She sighed.

End of Chpt 9.


	11. Chapter 11: You're Safe Here

Unforgivable

Author's Note: I added a few chapters together…so make sure you start with chapter 9.

And vote to tell me what I should do about my issue I posted in Chpt 9.

HGHGHG

Chapter 11: "You're Safe Here"

Scott wouldn't come out of his room.

It had been three hours since the storm passed, and Claire was worried. She had let him be alone most of that time, but now it was nearly midnight and and she had work the next day (although now she was wondering if she should just call in sick and pull Scott out of school and have the both of them stay home tomorrow), but anyway she couldn't go to bed without seeing him first to make sure he was okay.

"Scott, honey, open the door." She said for the third time.

"No," came the muffled reply. Well, at least he had answered this time. That was an improvement. So he wasn't passed out or dead or run away.

"Scott, listen. I know you're feeling embarrassed about what you told me, but I promise, I'm not looking at you any differently than I was before. Okay?"

There was a long pause, then Claire heard the scraping sound of furniture being pulled away from the door. The knob turned slowly, and the door fell open about three inches.

"Oh, good. I was getting worried about you," Claire breathed. "Are you okay? How do you feel?"

Scott didn't answer her. Claire peeked into the room. It was dark, except for the nightlight she'd put in after his first nightmare at her house.

"Could I come in?" Claire asked patiently.

Scott didn't say anything, but he opened the door a few inches wider.

Claire opened the door a little more and stepped in. She looked at him. He kept his head down, but Claire could see his face, and it looked as if he'd been crying.

"I thought I'd go to bed soon…but I wanted to see how you're doing first."

Scott shrugged.

"Do you want me to stay up with you instead? We could talk."

Scott shook his head.

Claire looked at him. "Scott, I'm going to get some Tylenol for you, okay? I figure your head must be hurting from...before." Claire meant to say _crying_, but stopped herself. She was trying to be sensitive; didn't want to embarrass him further.

Scott just shrugged again.

Claire went downstairs, grabbed the Tylenol out of the kitchen cabinet, but then had a different idea. She put it back and got some Tylenol PM. It would still work on his headache, but it would also put him to sleep, and Claire knew she wouldn't be able to sleep if he was still awake. She'd worry about what he might do…to himself.

She came back up with a glass of water and handed it to him along with the tablets. Scott hadn't moved from where she left him. "Here you go," She said, "I brought you the night-time kind, so it might make you a little drowsy, but it will help your head and it will probably help you sleep through the night a little better."

She watched him swallow the pills, then asked, "Can you get ready for bed?"

He didn't answer.

"Did you brush your teeth?" She asked.

He shook his head.

"Go brush your teeth." She told him.

Scott dutifully went into the bathroom and shut the door. He came out again a few minutes later.

"Okay," she said, "You get in your pajamas and get into bed. I'm coming back in, in a couple minutes."

Scott pulled off his clothes and put a tee shirt and sweatpants on to sleep in, then let Claire back in.

"When's this going to work?" he asked her.

"Probably in a few minutes. That's why I want you to stay in bed. You'll get drowsy fast, and you shouldn't be standing up when it happens. Come on, get in now."

Scott obligingly pulled back the covers and got in, then pulled them up high around himself. He didn't lay down.

Claire sat on the edge of his bed. Scott eyed her nervously. Maybe he shouldn't have taken that pill. What if she thought he was an easy target?

"Scott, lay down. You're okay. I just want to make sure you can fall asleep, safe and sound."

Scott lay down, nervously. "But…"

"What?"

"The door."

Claire glanced over at it. "I'll shut it on the way out."

"No, but then- then I can't-"

"What?"

"I won't be able to push the chair in front…"

Claire felt a little hurt, but pushed her own feelings aside, trying to understand where he was coming from.

"Scott, you don't have to block the door. Elaine is not here to hurt you, and I would never, ever do anything to hurt you. I promise."

She stopped talking, looked at him, and then went on softly, "I know nothing I say is going to make you believe me. You're trust has been broken, and it's going to take time to get it back. But Scott, you _are_ safe here. You're safe here."

Scott's eyes had already closed by the time she stopped talking, and so she pulled up the covers around him and gave him one last, loving look before leaving the room- pulling the door shut behind her, just as she promised.

End of Chpt 11.

Sneak peak at next chapter…a frank discussion and a trip to the zoo!! LOL


	12. Chapter 12:All I Know is That I Love You

All I Know is That I Love You (Chapter 12)

…………………………………………

Scott woke up at 10 am.

He jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, then frantically threw on some clothes. He ran downstairs and found Claire sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. Scott stopped short. Claire looked up at him.

"What's going on?" he asked. "I overslept, I must not have heard the alarm-"

Claire calmly set down the newspaper. "I turned off your alarm. You don't have to go to school today."

"Why?"

Claire motioned to the table. "Sit down," she said. "I made you a big breakfast. Did you sleep okay?"

Scott sat down, looking bewildered. "Um…yeah…I'm kinda groggy."

Claire set down a plate in front of him and then began pouring orange juice. "Sleeping pills will do that, if you're not used to them."

"I can't eat all this!" Scott said, looking down at the plate for the first time. Pancakes, eggs, and sausage were piled high.

"Just eat what you can. I don't want you to be hungry. Are you sure you're okay?"

Scott nodded, taking a sip of orange juice, which he felt was all his stomach could handle.

"Why am I not at school?" he asked awkwardly.

Claire smiled. "Well, I thought you and I could go to the zoo today."

"The _zoo_?" Scott asked, incredulously. "The last time I went to the zoo, I was eight."

"Well then it's high time for the trip."

Scott, who had taken exactly one bite of pancake, now pushed his plate away. He eyed her. "You take me places when you want me to talk about things I don't want to talk about."

Claire turned away from him to put her own dish in the sink. "You know, you're smarter than I give you credit for. Now eat up, kiddo. We're going to the zoo."

Scott stared at her for a minute, then reluctantly looked back down at his plate.

~ HG ~ HG ~

Claire pulled into a parking space and hung the parking pass from the rearview mirror before turning off the car. The two then got out and began walking toward the entrance. Scott lagged behind a little. All he saw were toddlers and old people.

Claire turned around. "Scott, come on." She urged.

Claire bought tickets and picked up a map at the front gate. She studied it for a moment, then said, "All right, we'll start at the bears, and if we move in a clockwise direction spending no more than ten minutes in each area, then we should get to see the whole south side of the park before lunchtime."

"I can't wait," Scott said dryly.

Claire smiled at him. "This is going to be fun. You'll see." She dragged him by the arm past a sign that said "Bears, this way".

When they got to the first bear exhibit, she made Scott turn around to face her and she got out her camera.

"Can I take your picture?" She asked him.

"No," he said.

Claire looked disappointed, but she put the camera back in her purse and didn't insist.

"Well, I guess let's just look at these bears then..." she said, coming over to join him at the railing.

They moved from bears to lions to giraffes to elephants to rhinos. Scott was bored, but he did laugh at some of the monkeys.

After the reptile house, Claire checked her watch and announced that it was time for lunch.

Claire led him to the zoo's little restaurant. As they were being seated, Claire jokingly offered him the cup of crayons that was on the table, and said, "There are activities on the back of the placemat."

Scott did not find this funny and knocked away the cup angrily, sending the crayons rolling across the table. Claire slammed her hand down on them to stop them before they fell on the floor. Then, staring at Scott, she dropped the crayons back into the cup one by one, without looking at them. There was a slight thud as each one landed.

Once they were put away, she said evenly, "There's no reason to get so upset. It was a joke. If it hurt your feelings, then I'm sorry. But you do not need to react with that kind of anger. That was uncalled for."

Scott leaned back and put on a smirk. "Whatever."

"No," Claire said somewhat forcefully, "Not 'whatever'. I am sorry if I upset you, but you need to start speaking like the intelligent young man that you are. When you have a problem, _say it_, Scott. Don't get mad and grunt and stomp around."

"Don't tell me how to act," Scott told her lowly.

"Do you want to go home?" Claire asked.

Scott turned away from her quickly, looking in the other direction. "No," he said huskily, "No, don't make me go home."

Claire looked shocked. "No…when I said home, I meant _my_ house."

"Oh," Scott said, and he took a shuddery breath, but still didn't turn around.

"Scott? You okay?" Claire asked tentatively.

Scott rubbed his eyes on his sleeve and then faced her. "The animals…allergies…makes my eyes run."

Claire nodded. "That happens to me, too." She said, pretending to believe him.

Then Claire, acting very calm, took a sip of her Pepsi, swallowed, and then said as casually as she could, "Just so you know, Scott, I would never send you home knowing what's happening there."

Scott looked extremely relieved to hear that. The waitress came, they ordered hamburgers and fries, and Scott didn't have anything negative to say for the rest of the meal.

For the rest of their time at the zoo Scott was a lot calmer and didn't seem to hold the anger he had carried with him before. Claire wondered if the anger was going away because now he knew he didn't have to worry anymore about going back home; that Elaine wasn't going to be able to use him for her own sick sexual purposes any time soon.

The rest of the day was better now that Scott's internal anger had lessened. No longer did Claire have to try to keep Scott moving to keep up with her as they walked. He walked by her side and seemed to enjoy himself, even joking around a little. He still was unwilling to pose for any pictures, but he seemed to try to participate by offering to take some of her instead.

Before they left, Claire took him to the gift shop and let him pick out whatever he wanted.

Once they were home, Claire put chicken in the oven and told Scott to sit down at the kitchen table.

Scott had a feeling it was time to have the conversation that he'd been dreading. He knew Claire would want him to talk, it seemed that whenever she took him somewhere, it was with the goal of getting him to open up.

He sat down, feeling a little queasy. Claire sat down with him too. "I'm glad we went out today. I think after yesterday, you needed to get out and do something different. Last night was pretty hard for you."

Claire swallowed hard before continuing. "Last night you said that Elaine came into your bedroom. Can you tell me what she did when she came into your room?"

Scott's face burned. He shook his head, looking down to avoid her eyes.

"Scott, if something inappropriate happened, you need to tell me."

"Nothing happened," Scott mumbled.

Claire sighed. "Honey, if she was coming into your room to play videogames with you, you wouldn't be having these problems. _Something happened_ and I need to know what it was."

"Never mind, I don't want to talk about it," Scott shifted uncomfortably, wishing he could go back and erase the moment he'd let his secret slip.

"No, Scott, we need to deal with this. We have to bring it out in the open and work on it. I want to help you. I know from what you said that what happened must have been…sexual."

Scott flinched at the word.

"I just want you to answer the question. Did she touch you, Scott?"

There was a long pause, then, reluctantly, and without looking her, Scott nodded his head so slightly that it barely moved.

"And did it go further than that?" Claire asked softly.

There was an even longer pause, and Scott, turning beat red, nodded again.

"Can you tell me what?" she gently probed.

Scott did not answer. His eyes were welling up and he was desperately trying to keep them from overflowing.

"Scott? Did she have sex with you?" Claire said quietly.

That did it. The dam burst and Scott's tears ran down his face. He covered his face with his hands.

"It's okay, honey, just get it out," Claire murmured. After Scott's admission last night, she had expected this, but it was still so hard to hear. She'd been hoping that it was limited to touching and that Elaine hadn't actually raped the boy. Not that touching alone would have been acceptable in the slightest, but it might not have been quite as traumatic as being forced to have sex.

Claire let him cry without touching him. She could tell he wasn't going to allow himself to cry though. He kept wiping away at his eyes and snuffling to try to stop himself. When he finally got control over it, he still wouldn't meet Claire's eyes.

Being at the zoo was okay. Even though he was absolutely sure that with this new insight on his past, Claire must be looking at him differently than before, it still hadn't been so awkward because she hadn't really known any details and also they were still avoiding the subject. Now that it was going to be freely discussed, Scott wanted to wear a bag over his head and sink into the floor.

Claire went on, "Like I said at the zoo, I would never just send you home knowing what's happening there. Your dad and I decided you'd be here for a few weeks, so you have plenty of time left here. But," she went on seriously, "We need to talk about this, because at some point you'll have to go home, and we obviously don't want you to be in a situation where you will be hurt. So….we need to decide together how to handle this. I know I ought to call DCFS and let them handle it, but… well, I thought you would get really upset about that, and it seemed wrong to just go ahead and get the authorities involved without you knowing anything about it. This is your life, and you've already had so much control taken away from you. I was thinking we'd call your dad and have him fly out to meet with us and discuss the problem."

"No," Scott said lowly. "I don't want to tell him."

"Well, I thought you might feel that way. We'll talk to him about it together. But I thought it might be a good idea for me to talk to him first, to kind of prepare him for the news-"

"No," Scott interrupted, "I didn't mean that _I_ didn't want to tell him. I meant that I don't want him _told_."

"Scott, he _has_ to know. There's no way around that. I mean, otherwise he's going to expect you to just come home and go back to living there and…don't you see? Right now, he's looking at you as being the bad guy. He doesn't see that Elaine is doing anything wrong. He thinks she's being the perfect stepmom, and you're just some defiant, rebellious kid who wants to make her miserable. We need your father to know the truth. It's not right for him to go on thinking that you're the problem. _She's_ the bad guy here, _she's_ causing the problems in your house, _not you_, and your dad needs to know what kind of person she is. She deserves to be punished for what she's done. You gotta stop protecting her."

At this, Scott's eyes flashed up angrily, making contact with Claire for the first time. "I'm not protecting her!"

"As long as you agree to keep her secret, you are. Because she's doing something that's against the law, but she can't get in trouble if nobody tells on her. I can tell on her myself, Scott. But I wanted to give you that choice, because I think it's yours to make. Don't you see? _Tell on her, Scott._ You don't have to protect her."

Scott heaved a sigh. "My dad won't believe me. I know he won't." He rubbed his temples. "He's so stuck on her. He thinks she can't do anything wrong. Everything is always my fault."

Claire was sure his father would believe him, but she didn't argue. There was no point in telling Scott that his father would believe him if Scott was adamant that he wouldn't.

"Scott, we do need to tell someone about this, if not your father. We can go talk to the police, or I can take you to the hospital for testing for sexually transmitted infections and then they will take it from there. But I do need to get help for you from a professional. I can't just ignore that this is happening."

"The police?" Scott yelled. "STI testing?" The possibility of catching something like that had never occurred to him; this was a new worry. "What happened to it being my choice?"

Claire bit her lip. "Scott, I meant I wanted you to have a choice in _who_ to talk to, in who to tell. But you're making the choice to simply ignore the problem. I guess…I guess I _have_ to go over your head and get other people involved. I'm sorry."

"No!" Scott yelled, pushing back from the table and getting up.

Claire jumped up, too. "Scott, just listen to me for a minute. It won't be as bad as you think." She tried to use a calming voice. "When a kid is being hurt like this, they're supposed to tell an adult they trust. You did that, ok? You did the _right _thing, Scott. But now, _I_ have to do the right thing. I have to talk to people who are trained to deal with this sort of thing. Child protective Services, Department of Children and Family Services…they're the ones who will know the right thing to do for you. That's their job; to protect kids, to do whatever is best for the kids."

Scott looked down; his face was pinched with anger.

"Does that mean they're gonna take me away from home? Am I gonna have to go to court and stuff?"

"Let's worry about one thing at a time-"

"No! I have to know what's going to happen to me!" Scott looked ready to cry.

Claire took a deep breath. She pulled Scott's chair out and patted it. He sat down grudgingly, still looking angry. She pulled the other chair up and sat down very close to him, holding his hand and speaking gently.

"I can't say for sure what anyone will do. But….it's possible…that there _could _be a court case, and you would need to tell a judge about what happened to you. I just don't know."

"Ugh," Scott groaned. "I never should have let it out. I shouldn't kept my mouth shut." He put his head in his hands. "What about my dad? My house?"

"Again, I just don't know, Scott…They might have you go back home, though I'm not sure why they would and I don't believe that's in your best interest. Or, more likely, they might want you to stay somewhere else until the matter is resolved."

"When will… 'the matter be resolved'?" Scott asked. "What does that even _mean_? I'll _never_ have my old life back, and my dad's life will be ruined. So what's getting resolved, and how will any of us ever be _normal_ again?"

He spoke with the hollow voice of one who has grown far older than his years, and he looked at her with such empty, dead eyes that Claire couldn't help but feel her own eyes fill with tears.

"Scott…honey… I don't know. All I know is that I love you, and I have to keep you safe. You're not safe there, and you won't be safe until we get this settled for good."

She pulled Scott toward her and gave him a hug. It was the first time she'd hugged him since he came, and- unlike that hug- this time, he did not pull away.

End of Chapter 12 and Author's Note:

*Story about the Real Scott in my life…*

Ok anyway about…my decision of what to do in terms of his school and all that. Thanks for all the responses about what route I should take in switching his school.

But I started thinking about what kind of "mom" I have been (can't help the quotations, mom just sounds weird to me), and I realized I basically just kind of suck at it!

I have been pretty selfish and it's no wonder that his kid pretty much tolerates me and nothing else. The entire time I've been in his life (which hasn't been very long, but still), I have done nothing for him that was unselfish in nature. That's a hard thing to admit.

When planning my decision to move for a job, I just had to see if it would be ok with my husband and of course it was, he is pretty open to whatever I think and if I wanted to do it he thought it might be a great opportunity for the three of us to "see the world" you could say, and to do different things, and he can work from anywhere because he is high up in his company and has a great job, so we are very blessed in that, it gives up more opportunities to do what we want to do.

But once we as the adults were decided, it honestly never occurred to me to consider what the kiddo wanted. My line of thinking up to that point had been that kiddo doesn't really get a say, whatever I say goes and that's that.

As if a young teenager wants to be packed up and moved across the world and leave everything he knows behind! We had a very turbulent few months and finally, well, I don't know what it was but my eyes were suddenly opened to what I had been doing to him. (No wonder he doesn't like me.)

So I decided to turn down the job, and I told him before I even told his dad. I made a commitment to myself and to him that things were going to change.

Nowadays, whenever I do anything, I stop and think, first, is this going to benefit our family relationship or will it drive wedges in it? I have stopped just making decisions and expecting him to go along with them. I talk to him about what he wants and for the first time I actually really _listen_ to what he has to say.

To my surprise, I have found he's a really great kid! Now that I'm actually making an effort to get to know him and like him, I'm finding that I have this wonderful young man who was never really bad at all, he only seemed bad to me because he felt unloved and mistreated. And that was my fault, not his. So my goal became "I'm going to make that kid love me".

As for the kiddo, he seemed suspicious of the change at first and still didn't like me. It took a long time before things even got civil. Eventually he seemed….if not really happy, at least accepting of having me around.

I always just thought he was being difficult and I guess I was too selfish and too wrapped up in my own things to notice what he wanted.

Over time things began to change. I got proof of how much things had changed yesterday, when his dad told me some great news. Now, I'm not saying gifts mean everything, but the fact that the kiddo wants to give me a nice gift tells me that we have come a long way in building a healthy relationship: His dad told me in secret that the kiddo was all excited about some bracelet he was planning to buy me. Kiddo works on the weekends at the hardware store- we don't let him work after school so his homework won't suffer- but he apparently has been saving his paychecks and is planning to buy me (for my 25th birthday which is next month) an expensive bracelet he saw in an advertisement.

Want to know what he got me for my 24th birthday last year? Well, he stayed out with friends all day and didn't come home till late, totally missed my birthday dinner, and basically threw me a card that his dad forced him to get for me (in which there was no message, he simply signed his name).

So like I said, gifts aren't everything- he does not need to buy me a gift to say he accepts me- but just the idea that he _wants_ to give me something makes me feel like I am making progress and he is accepting me in the family now.

I know I just wrote a book here as an author's note, and of course you don't need to read that, it's personal and has nothing to do with the story, but…I don't know, I guess I am just feeling _GOOD_ about where things are going and I felt like sharing how good everything is going for me right now.

I'm trying hard to get our lives back on track. : )


	13. Chapter 13: A Terrible Thing

Unforgivable

CHAPTER 13- _A Terrible Thing_

Claire was extremely nice to him for the rest of the day, hoping to calm him down a little because of how upset he'd gotten.

She told him she had a couple errands, and she went out and rented some movies, got take-out, and brought home his favorite ice cream. She did all this as quickly as she could, and then drove home.

Scott opened the door for her and helped her with the bags. "Why'd you get all this if you have chicken in the oven?"

"Well, we can have that tomorrow instead. I thought you might enjoy this tonight instead."

They went into the kitchen and opened up the bags. Claire said, "I got Taco Bell, since you said that's your favorite. It might need to be heated up a little. And here are the movies I rented. I thought you'd like them."

Scott nodded, looking at them. He thought about how Claire already knew his personality after just a short time. She really paid attention when he spoke, and she actually remembered what he liked and what he didn't like. Scott thought about how different that was than his dad. His dad didn't remember that he liked Taco Bell best, or even what his favorite flavor of ice cream was. But Claire knew those things, just because she paid attention to him.

"You pick out a movie and put it in. I'm going to heat up my food." Claire did not offer to heat Scott's food. There was a reason for this. Claire did not heat up Scott's food and bring it over because she wanted a chance to sit down before Scott came into the room. This was so he could choose how close he wanted to sit, based on how comfortable he was with her. When she was finished, she came over to sit down, and told Scott, "I left yours out, you heat it up if it isn't warm enough for you."

Scott heated up his food and came over to sit down with her. He looked around the room, sizing up the places to sit. Scott ended up sitting on the couch with Claire, but not right next to her. Claire thought about how this was very different from 'the old days', when he would insist on sitting across the room, nowhere near her at all. He must be feeling more comfortable with her.

They started the movie, and only paused it when they were done eating and wanted to throw away the wrappers and wash their hands.

When they started it up again, Scott took the blanket off the back of the couch and pulled it around himself.

"You cold? I can turn down the air," Claire offered.

"No," Scott said, and pulled his legs up under him.

"Scott, before we start the movie back up, I should tell you…I was thinking about…maybe giving your dad a call tomorrow."

Scott looked at her.

"Just to, you know, see if he might be able to come out here."

Claire paused. Then she said, "Or another idea, is to just wait till he wants you to come back home, and then I could go with you, so we could talk to him together."

Scott's face darkened and he wouldn't look at her.

"I know you don't want to do that, but I really think it might work out for the best that way. I totally think that if we let him in on what's been happening, he's not going to feel too happy with Elaine. Then everything will be different."

Scott shook his head. "You don't know."

Claire sighed. "You're afraid of 'the unknown' and that's completely understandable, but really, Scott, this is going to turn out better than you think."

Scott felt annoyed that she was dismissing his worries. _He_ knew his dad, she didn't.

Besides, Claire still didn't have all the details about what had happened between him and Elaine. It wasn't as simple as she thought it was.

"Claire, if…if I tell my dad about…what I did…then I have to tell him the other part of it, too…I'd have to tell him _everything_."

"Yeah, I remember you said there was more to it than just sex. What was the other stuff?"

"I'm not talking about it." Scott said firmly.

"Okay," Claire accepted. After spending so much time with Scott, she was beginning to know when to push him and when to let it go.

"Do you want to start the movie again now?" she suggested.

Scott picked up the remote, but he just fiddled with it, not wanting to start the movie quite yet.

"Claire?" he finally asked, not looking at her.

"Yeah?"

"Do you…do you think…"

"Yeah?" Claire said gently, with a quick prayer that he'd be able to say whatever it was he needed to say.

"Do you think… that…it's my fault?" He took a quick breath and looked up at her, then said in a rush,

"I know you said it's not, but do you really think that? Or are you just saying that so I won't feel so guilty?"

"No, Scott. This is not your fault. I wouldn't lie to you. If you had done something wrong, I would tell you that, because you need to accept responsibility for when you do something wrong. I believe that. But this…"

Claire moved closer to him and pulled him to her in a hug, wrapping her arms around the big ball of blanket that had Scott inside of it. Scott's head was against her chest but he didn't care.

Claire said softly, "It wasn't your fault. It just happened. And it's a terrible thing. But it wasn't your fault."

She looked down at his head, she couldn't see his face now but she could see all his curls, and she brushed her fingers through them while she said, "You seem so concerned about whether _other _people will think it was your fault. But I'm wondering if _you_ think it was your fault."

"Well…"

"You do, don't you?" Claire asked sadly.

"I didn't mean to let anything happen." Scott said quietly, his voice muffled through the blanket.

"I know." Claire said just as quietly.

"I didn't want it." Scott said, quietly again.

"I know," Claire repeated.

"She thought I liked it, but I didn't." Scott said, still quiet.

"Okay." Claire accepted.

"I told her that." Scott said, more forcefully. "I told her I didn't like it."

"I'm sure you did." Claire agreed.

"She said I was lying. She said she could tell I liked it." Scott said angrily.

"But she was the one who was lying." Claire said.

Scott didn't say anything.

Claire continued, "She was lying just to confuse you. She had no way of knowing whether you liked it or not, Scott."

Claire could feel him tense up. Scott said, "Yeah she did."

Claire frowned and looked down at his curly hair- the only part of his head she could see, since his face was still in her arms. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Scott said lowly.

"What did you mean, Scott?"

"…she could see that I liked it." Scott repeated uncomfortably.

"How could she-"

Oh.

_Oh._

Claire bit her lip, trying to figure out what to say. "Scott, _that_- if I'm thinking what you're thinking- _that_ has _nothing _to do with whether you wanted it or not. It's just…biological. That's all it is. It doesn't mean anything."

"Of course it does. It means everything." Scott said, sounding both angry and ashamed.

Claire looked down at the coffee table, trying to figure out how to convince him. A piece of an onion was still there. It must have fallen out of her burrito, and she must have missed it when she was cleaning up the Taco Bell food. It gave her an idea. But she'd work on that plan later. For now, she just pulled him closer into her arms, and Scott, wrapped up in the big blue blanket and somebody holding him, somebody he trusted, he felt safe and loved. He couldn't always feel completely and totally relaxed, because he had been hurt and there was a part of him that would never trust completely. But as much as he could, he trusted her. Before, he could never let her hug him because he didn't trust her motives for hugging. Now he was okay with her hugs because he knew that she was not hugging him just to touch him.

Now Scott had let Claire know about the reason he felt guilty, the reason that maybe Elaine was right when she said she could plainly see that he wanted it.

He wondered if he should tell Claire the _other_ part of the secret- the reason he didn't want to try to tell anyone about Elaine.

He decided not to.

Right now she wasn't blaming him.

But if she knew the rest, she might.

End of Chapter 13.


	14. Chapter 14: Big Idea From a Little Onion

Chpt 14- _"A Big Idea From A Little Onion"_

After a few minutes of silence, Claire picked up the remote and hit play, and they finished the movie. Scott stayed exactly like he was, wrapped in the blanket and in Claire's arms. He didn't mind. He felt sort of safe there.

XXX

The next day, Claire began to work on her plan.

She woke Scott for school, and told him that he needed to come straight home after school because she needed his help with a big project for a neighbor.

After school, Scott came straight home and Claire was waiting for him. She had out a big pot and several bags of onions. The whole room smelled awful.

"Ugh," Scott said. "This is terrible."

"I know," Claire said. "But we've got to help. Mrs. Powers next door does this annual charity dinner thing and she need all these chopped up."

"She needs _all these_ chopped up for a dinner?" Scott exclaimed.

"It's a huge event, Scott. That's why I need your help."

"Can't someone else do it? These stink."

"No, you're helping, now get to work." Claire handed him a small knife and plopped an onion down on the cutting board in front of him.

Scott began cutting up the onion. Soon his eyes began to feel itchy. They began to run, and eventually he started sniffling.

"You okay, Scott?" Claire asked when she heard him sniffling.

"Yeah. It's just the onions." Scott's eyes were red. He started on the next onion.

"You sure?" Claire asked.

"If I say I'm not okay, do I get to stop?" Scott asked, sort of grinning.

"No," Claire told him. "We need those onions cut up."

Scott cut four more onions, and finally had to wipe his runny eyes on the back of his hand, but that only made it worse- he got onion _right in his eye_.

"Owww," he moaned, going over to the sink to rinse it out. There were tears pouring down his cheeks.

"Oh, no, Scott, are you okay?" Claire asked, sounding concerned and rushing over to him as he bent over the running faucet.

"Yeah, it'll be fine, I just need to rinse it out- _ow_," he said, "Geez, this stings."

Once Scott got his eye rinsed out, he went back to cutting up the onions. He cut three more, and his eyes began to run again. They were very red since he had gotten it in his eyes, and now he had to stop for a tissue.

"My nose is running, Claire, I gotta stop, just for a minute."

"Okay," Claire agreed.

"Scott, you seem really upset. I think we should talk about it." Claire said, looking very serious.

"What?" Scott asked, confused.

He blew his nose a couple times and wiped his eyes.

"Your eyes are all red, your nose is runny, and you've been crying. So let's talk. What's upsetting you?" Claire asked.

Scott was puzzled. "Nothing. It's the onions."

Claire shook her head and said firmly, "Scott, I can clearly see that you're crying. And people don't cry unless they're sad. So tell me what's wrong, right now."

Scott was getting annoyed. "Look, you make me cut up a million onions and then you ask me why I'm crying? It's not me, it's the stupid onions!"

Claire shook her head. "Don't lie to me. Obviously you're sad, you're crying. I want to know why."

"It's the onions!"Scott asked incredulously, blowing out air in frustration.

"No way," Claire insisted. "You're obviously crying. That means you're sad, Scott."

"Oh my God!" Scott yelled. "What is wrong with you? _I'm crying because you're making me cut up five million smelly onions_!"

"You mean you're not really sad? It's just the strong smells of the onions making you tear up?" Claire asked, sounding confused.

"_YES!_" Scott practically screamed at her.

Claire dropped her knife and onion very suddenly and they clattered onto the countertop, making Scott look up at her. She leaned on the counter across from him, staring at him straight in the eyes and saying loudly, as if making a point-

"Oh, _IIIIIII_ see. So what you're telling me is, that you're _not_ crying because you _want_ to cry- _you're_ crying justbecause something is stimulating your tear ducts and causing your nasal passages to flow."

Scott stared back at her for a long moment.

Then he too dropped his knife.

Finally he said quietly, "There is no charity dinner, is there?"

Claire, hiding an impish smile, shook her head.

Scott's lips twisted. "That was a mean thing to do. I got onion in my eyes."

Claire shrugged. "Sorry. But you had to learn."

"You bought all these onions just to teach me a lesson." Scott shook his head.

"It was worth it." Claire said with a shrug.

"So what are you gonna do with four bags of onions?" Scott grinned.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'll drop off the ones we didn't cut at the soup kitchen or something. Maybe they can use them. I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it."

"So there's no charity dinner at all? And no Mrs. Powers?"

"Oh no, there is. It's held every year, but not in the summer. And Mrs. Powers wouldn't be the one to run it. That old witch has never lifted a finger to help another person in her life."

Scott laughed, and Claire joined in.

When they quieted down, Claire said, "So, you see what I meant before? About how your body's response to Elaine's advances doesn't mean you wanted it?"

Scott shied away from her. "That's…different. Isn't it?"

Claire washed her hands to get off the onion smell and motioned for Scott to do the same.

As they stood there washing, she said, "I'll tell you something else, then. Once I had this boyfriend, Mike. He was a nice enough guy, I guess, but it didn't work out. Anyway, there was always one thing about him I couldn't stand."

"What was it?" Scott asked, reaching for the towel.

"I _hate_ being tickled. It's like the worst thing ever, I just can't stand it."

"Me too," Scott said, "I hate that."

"Well anyway," Claire went on, "He thought it was funny, or cute, or whatever, to tickle me. And he _knew_ I hated it. But there I'd be, rolling around laughing, with this huge grin on my face- even though I felt really angry with him for doing that when he knew I didn't like it. So once I stopped laughing, I'd start yelling at him, and he just… didn't get it. He always said, 'well, you laughed, didn't you?'"

"Well, you were being tickled. You couldn't help it." Scott said, and then he said more quietly, "Oh…"

"Yeah," Claire said, nodding. "Onions are _going_ to cause crying. Tickling is _going_ to cause laughter. And stimulating your…ok, Scott, this is embarrassing for both of us, but I'm just going to say it- your penis…is _going_ to cause arousal. The human body has millions of nerve endings, and it's not your fault that what she did caused those feelings in you. It's a natural, normal, biological response."

Scott blushed scarlet.

"Yeah, I know. Embarrassing- I get it. But it needed to be said. And _now_, if we are done with _that_, and if you really, _really,_ understand now that having those reactions does not mean _anything_… then we should get rid of this _awful_ smell and decide what to do for dinner tonight. Do you have any ideas about what you want for dinner?"

Scott grinned. "Anything, as long as it doesn't have onions."


	15. Chapter 15: Facing the Demons

Chapter 15- _Facing the Demons_

AUTHORS NOTE:

To Syd- I'm really not sure, actually. My original intention was that he'd stay a while with Claire and then go to Horizon, because I didn't want to completely exclude the school and those characters from my story.

However, with the direction my story is taking, it seems…odd to fit them in at this point, and I'm thinking this story will go a whole different way.

But if you miss them…Horizon and the other kids are still in my other story just a little bit. (That one is called "Home for the Holidays, a Higher Ground story").

XXX

Chapter 15- _Facing the Demons_

Claire called Martin the next day.

He seemed surprised to hear from her. Claire rolled her eyes, since he couldn't see her do it. Martin had called exactly _twice_ in all the time Scott had been with her. He called the night Scott arrived, just to make sure he'd gotten there safely, and then he called again about a week and half later, and talked to Scott for less than ten minutes.

"Hey, Claire, how're you doing?" Martin said.

"Scott and I are both fine," Claire said, noticing Martin didn't ask about his child right away.

"Actually, I was wondering when you'd like for him to head home?"

Martin thought aloud, "Yeah, he probably should come on home soon…I don't want to burden you with him."

"Oh, Martin, Scott's no trouble at all. Really. He's a great kid. In fact…I wouldn't mind him staying with me longer, but…if he stays with me much longer, then I really think you ought to come out here for a day or two just so the three of us can talk."

"Talk? Is there a problem?"

"Well...we've been talking about his feelings on some things, and I think we've really gotten to the root of his behavior problems. I thought that if he stays with me longer, maybe you might come visit so he can tell you what he's been telling me."

"I don't think I have time to fly all the way there just for a day or two; can't Scott just tell me whatever it is over the phone?"

Claire bit her lip in frustration. "I don't think that's quite what Scott and I had in mind."

There was a pause.

Then Claire said, "Well, maybe Scott should just plan to go on home then. He's been gone a long time from home anyway. But would I be able to fly back with him and spend just a night or two with you before leaving? I'd like to see that Scott gets settled in and hopefully tells you what he's been talking to me about."

"Yeah, sure. That'll work. If you really want to fly all the way here with him." Martin agreed.

"I'll let you know as soon as I book a flight." Claire told him.

XXX

Two days later Scott and Claire were on their way to Martin and Elaine's house. Claire noticed that Scott became quiet and sullen the nearer he got to his home.

When they got there, they were greeted warmly by the couple, although Claire had to pretend to be nice to Elaine. Martin told Scott to carry Claire's suitcase up to the guest room, which he did, and then they all sat down to dinner together.

The talk was simple and pleasant- Martin's job, Scott's summer school experience, etc. but Claire noticed that Scott seemed extremely jumpy and nervous at the table.

Claire had no idea what was going on under that table. Elaine had insisted on serving dinner in the breakfast nook instead of the dining room, so they were eating at a small table. Seating herself next to Scott, she had acted casual at the table, but all the while she was running her fingers over his thigh and crotch under the table.

After dinner, while Martin and Elaine were clearing the table, Claire was able to pull Scott aside and say quietly, "Do you want to talk to him tonight? I can try to occupy Elaine while you talk to him alone."

Scott looked scared. "Um.. No, I want to wait till tomorrow." He said.

Claire patted him on the shoulder. "The longer you wait, the harder it's going to be to just do it. Wouldn't you rather get it over with?"

Scott bit his lip and shook his head.

"Okay…as long as you do it before I leave. I just want to help you, Scott." Claire said.

Scott nodded.

That night, Claire went to her guest room which included a private bathroom, and she washed and got ready for bed. Then she went down the hall a couple doors to where Scott's room was and knocked softly.

"It's Claire," she whispered.

Scott opened the door.

"Maybe you ought to put something in front of your door tonight, honey." She suggested, looking worried.

"I'll be okay tonight," Scottsaid, dismissing her concerns. "She's not going to try anything with company here. My dad's a heavy sleeper, but she doesn't know if you are or not, so I don't think she'd risk it."

"Okay- if you're sure. 'Night, honey" Claire grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze before she went back to her room.

"Goodnight," Scott whispered, and then shut his door. For the first time, he felt confident he could have a normal night's sleep. After all, Elaine wouldn't try anything with company in the house.

Would she?

End of chpt 15.

Sorry it's short and not my best written chapter, but this chapter doesn't really matter too much, it's really just a bridge to the next part of the story. =)


	16. Chapter 16: Beyond Help

Chapter 16- _Beyond Help. _

THIS CHAPTER IS RATED M for Mature. (Sorry, but…well, yeah, there was really no way around it.)

Now on to Chapter 16….

Something was wrong.

Usually Martin was a heavy sleeper. Once he was out, he was out and there was no waking him.

But tonight, Martin had a really hard time falling asleep. He figured it was because Claire was there- he had noticed in his life that whenever his routine was different, he had trouble sleeping.

So maybe having someone spending the night at their house was making him have trouble resting comfortably.

He had fallen asleep just fine when Elaine snuggled up next to him, but he'd woken during the night and rolled into a cold, empty space in the bed where she had been lying.

He figured maybe she'd gotten up for a drink of water or something, but if the bed was cold, she must have been gone for quite some time…

Normally Martin would have just tried to go back to sleep, but since it appeared Elaine had been up a while, he figured maybe she'd gone downstairs for a late night snack, and since he couldn't sleep anyway, he thought he might as well join her.

He got out of bed slowly and quietly went toward the hallway; he didn't want to wake anyone else. But when he reached the stairwell, he noticed that none of the downstairs lights were on. That was odd. If Elaine wasn't downstairs, where was she?

Martin paused a minute in the stairwell, thinking.

Then he heard some noises coming from his son's bedroom. Frowning, he headed over to his son's bedroom door, trying to be very, very quiet so that he wouldn't wake his cousin Claire, who was sleeping in the guestroom nearby.

He softly opened Scott's door- and felt as if he'd been punched in the stomache.

For a second he couldn't breathe.

The entire planet stopped spinning.

The lights were all off, so Martin was not seen or noticed by the people in the room.

But he could see the people in the room all too well.

Scott's blinds were open, and the moonlight was bright enough that it cast a soft glow into the room. Adding that to the streetlamp outside, Martin had plenty of light to see his son lying face up, naked on his bed, thrusting his hips into Martin's young wife, Elaine, who was straddling the boy with her back arched and her fingers running across his chest.

Martin, recovering quickly, threw his hand against the wall where it hit the light switch. Blazing light flooded the room, and Scott and Elaine stopped, both looking horror-stricken.

Before anyone could say anything, Martin just started screaming obscenities; he did not even know what he was saying; whatever it was, it was coming out loud and strong.

Elaine immediately jumped off of the boy and reached for her short satin robe, which was lying on Scott's floor. Trembling, she pulled it tightly around herself.

Scott scrambled to pull on his boxers, which were lying in the bed covers, wrinkled up. Once he got those on, he began trying to pull his sweatpants he slept in on over top of those.

Elaine realized her lacy nightie and panties were strewn across Scott's floor; she quickly snatched them up and stuffed them into her robe pocket.

Then, as if the idea had just occurred to her, she said in a pleading, trembling voice, "Martin- Martin, he raped me!"

"He did _what?_" Martin exclaimed.

Just then Claire ran into the room. When Martin smacked the wall light switch, it had awoken her, and then she had heard yelling. So she had run into the room, and now she said frantically, "What's going on? What happened?" Claire walked in on Scott yanking sweatpants up over his boxers and Elaine trembling in a corner with a bra strap hanging out of her pocket.

Scott had been about to reach for the sweatshirt he slept in, but he stopped cold at that way his dad said 'He did _what?_' It sounded as if his dad believed her!

Martin did not stop to consider how Scott could have raped Elaine when Elaine was the one on top and Scott was underneath. He also did not stop to consider why Elaine had not called out for help or even why she had come into his son's bedroom at night in the first place.

All of these things were pushed to the subconscious of his mind. He refused to even consider them. He simply believed her. After all, it _had_ to be Scott. It _had_ to. It had to, because Scott was the one who'd been screwing up lately, Scott was the one who was always in trouble, he was the one causing the problems in their house. Elaine had always been nothing but loving and devoted to him. She was the victim here.

Claire still looked sleepy and as if she wasn't fully aware of what was going on (for all she knew, the house was on fire) but she certainly woke up at what happened next.

Martin suddenly took a swing at Scott.

"Martin!" Claire screamed.

Scott moved backward to miss his dad's fist and in doing so, he stumbled over his nightstand. His lamp went crashing to the floor and broke, sending shards of glass across the floor.

Scott, in bare feet, stepped on them in an attempt to get away from his enraged father.

Martin swung at him again.

Scott began pleading, "Dad…dad-" as he backed up and tried to get behind his bed.

Elaine just backed up into the corner as if she didn't know what to do.

Claire, less afraid, was yelling at Martin, "Martin, stop! Stop this!"

Martin took a third swing and this time he didn't miss.

They all screamed, even Elaine.

He had aimed for the eye but missed slightly and hit his nose as well, causing a trickle of blood to come seeping out.

Claire jumped between them- perhaps brave, perhaps foolish.

"Martin, stop this!" She screamed. "You have to stop this! I'll call the police if you don't!"

Martin screamed back at her, "Do you KNOW what he was doing? Do you know what this little f***in' pervert was DOING with my WIFE?"

Claire was speechless. She knew Martin had a temper but she'd never seen him this enraged.

At his father's words, Scott started to cry- hard.

"Dad, _please_-" Scott pleaded, sobbing. "It wasn't like that!"

Scott's bare feet were leaving splatters of blood across the wooden floor, from where he'd stepped in the glass in his bare feet. More blood trickled out of his nose and down across his lips as he spoke.

"Dad, I swear, it wasn't like that, it wasn't my fault-"

Martin moved past Claire, over to Scott, and shoved him into the wall- _hard_. Then he shook him. "Listen to me. _Listen to me!_ You are not my son."

Scott stared at him, his face both wounded and startled at the same time.

"_Dad_-" Scott

"No!" Martin yelled, "Not me!" He shoved Scott's sweatshirt at him. "Do you hear me? I want you out of my house. Out of my house. Now!"

Scott used the back of his arm to wipe the blood that was now dripping onto his bare chest. Scott stood there a second, not knowing what to do. The sweatshirt Martin had shoved at him was wadded up in a ball against Scott's chest; the frightened boy was holding it as if it were a teddy bear.

Elaine was still standing in the corner of the room, trembling.

Claire said, "Martin, you can't be serious-"

"He's lucky I don't call the police!" Martin said, then seeing that Scott hadn't moved, he screamed, "GO!"

Scott made a small move toward his door.

Martin came after him, as if he wasn't leaving fast enough.

Claire pushed past them both and stepped into the doorway. She grabbed Scott by his bare shoulders and dragged him into the guest room where she had been staying. She pushed him to sit down on the bed and then snapped an order as if speaking to a dog- "Stay!"

Scott, barely registering what was happening, just nodded and sat there, his shoulders slumped.

Martin had been starting to follow them out into the hallway and then into the guest room, but Claire stepped out of the guest room and shut the door, blocking his way.

"_Martin_-" she began patiently, but he interrupted.

"Claire, I want him _out_."

Martin was red-faced, sweaty, and enraged.

Elaine came out into the hallway with them.

"I walked in on him and Elaine _in bed_, and I _know_ that my wife would _never-_"

Claire interrupted him. She knew perfectly well that Elaine had done nothing against her will, but she didn't say so now, because she knew Martin wouldn't listen.

Elaine was standing there, terrified looking, but not in a "something horrible just happened to me" kind of way…it was more of a "I did something bad and I'm scared of getting caught" way.

Claire knew that Martin was going to take Elaine's side no matter what, so she didn't push the issue. Instead, she said, "Look, if you really believe Elaine is hurt, then you need to stay calm for her sake, right? How about I get Scott out of here for you, and I can take him to a hotel for a couple of days, okay?"

Martin began to protest, but Claire interrupted firmly, "You can_not_ just throw him out on the street, Martin. He's underage and you're responsible for him, you are required by law to provide him with a place to live."

Martin interrupted. "You didn't see what he was doing, Claire! With my wife! In my house!"

Claire refused to discuss anything of importance with Martin when he was in this mental state. "Martin, you could be arrested for throwing him out. So I'm gonna help you out, okay?" Claire tried to sound soothing. "I'm going to go put some clothes on and get my suitcase and start my car…and I need you to just give me a few minutes to get some clothes together for Scott, and then I'll get him out of here for a few days. Okay? He'll be out of the house, Martin. And we can talk again in a couple days once everybody's had a chance to cool down. Okay?"

Martin breathed, and blinked his eyes for the first time in several seconds. "Okay." He finally said.

"Good." Claire encouraged. "So why don't you…you know, try to help Elaine or something…maybe go downstairs, make a nice pot of coffee…"

Martin backed up, nodding absently, and Claire breathed a sigh of relief- maybe the situation had been diffused.

Elaine tried to latch onto Martin's arm as he walked down the hall, but Martin shied away from her. Claire wondered if he even realized he had done that.

Claire turned back to the guest room door, which she had shut. She took a deep breath before going in.

Scott was still sitting exactly where she'd left him, and he was still sobbing. He looked up at her as she came in.

"I didn't-" He pleaded with her, "I didn't do what she says I did. I swear I didn't do that to her."

Scott kept repeated himself over and over, sobbing uncontrollably, until finally Claire snapped at him, "Scott, that's enough!" just to get him to stop.

She went to the little bathroom that was off of her room, and ran a washcloth under warm water. When she came back, she saw that Scott still hadn't moved. He had stopped sobbing and was now hiccupping and heaving, trying to catch his breath.

Claire knelt down in front of him and reached up to his face. Once the warm cloth made contact with his skin, he started to breathe more normally.

Claire wiped his face clean of the sweat, tears, snot, and blood that covered it. The smooth, even strokes of the warm cloth relaxed him and helped him to breathe more normally.

Claire then used the wash cloth to wipe off the blood that was streaked across his chest and arms. Upon finishing, she threw the cloth in the hamper and then turned her attention to his feet.

"Do your feet hurt?" she asked.

He nodded.

"They're bleeding, and it looked like you stepped in the glass. Put them up here and let's make sure there's no glass still in your feet, ok?"

Scott put his feet up on the bed and they both looked them over. Scott hesitantly pulled out a shard of glass he saw, which then caused him to bleed further.

"I see a couple too, but they're too small- I'm going to need tweezers." Claire said, shaking her head. She got up and went to get her makeup bag out of her suitcase. She rummaged around in it until she found a pair of tweezers. She got a bottle of rubbing alcohol from the bathroom and cleaned them off before using them to remove the glass shards.

"Okay, hun- stand up and see if you feel any more glass."

Scott stood up gingerly, and then shook his head.

"Good. Go into the bathroom and use the sink or the tub to wash the blood off your feet. And knock before you come back out, because I'm going to get dressed while you're in there."

Claire felt like she was set on autopilot- not really a living, thinking person, but just sort of a robot that was going through the motions of what needed to be done.

Once Scott shut the bathroom door, she grabbed some clothes out of her suitcase and began changing from her pajamas.

The second she was done, Scott knocked.

"Come on in," she told him.

Scott came back in, but he would not meet her eyes.

"Scott, your dad wants-"

"I know." Scott interrupted, sounding defeated. "He wants me out. I know. I heard him."

"He said that, yes. But, Scott, he's upset right now. He doesn't know what he's saying. He just needs some time. So I'll take you to a hotel and we'll stay there for a couple days while he cools off and thinks things through. Everything's going to be okay."

Scott's eyes filled up with tears, and he looked down at the floor.

Claire grabbed the sweatshirt Scott was holding before, which was now just lying on the guest room bed, and gently helped put it over his head and guide his arms through. "It'll all be okay, Scott. I promise."

"Now," she continued. "We're going to go in your room and pack up a few things to take with us. You grab your duffel bag."

Scott retrieved the big duffel bag he used, and Claire began opening his drawers. She scooped out the entire contents of his sock and underwear drawer.

Scott looked at her suspiciously. "You said it would only be for a couple of days." Then his expression changed and his face seemed to crumple. "You think I'm not coming back."

"No. No, no, no. That's not it. It just doesn't hurt to have extras, that's all. Scott-" she softened her voice- "Listen, I meant what I said. You'll be just fine. There's no reason to worry. Just focus on the task at hand. We need to pack right now. We'll figure out everything else later. What clothes do you need? Pick out clothes."

Scott nodded, brushing his eyes with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. He opened another drawer and dumped a stack of t-shirts into the duffel bag. Next he got jeans and hoodies, and a few pairs of shorts.

"Toothbrush and toothpaste," Claire remembered.

Scott retrieved some things from his bathroom and dumped those in, then looked at Claire expectantly.

She said, "Put on a pair of socks and some gym shoes. Then we'll go."

Scott did as he was told.

But he seemed afraid to leave the room. He kept jumping at every little noise.

Martin and Elaine were in the living room having a heated discussion in low voices.

Claire did not want Scott to go in there, for his own safety, she thought it would be wiser not to put Scott into contact with Martin.

She led him out to her rental car and put her suitcase and his duffel bag in the trunk.

Then she told Scott to sit in the backseat behind the passenger's side, and wait for her.

Once he was in and the door was locked, she went back into the house.

"Martin?" she called. "I'm going to leave with Scott now. You have my cell phone number if you need to call. And I'll call in a couple days to see what you want to do from here on out. Would you like me to call when I get to the hotel, so you'll know where Scott is?"

"I don't care where he is," Martin said shortly, his voice hard as stone. "If you choose to take him someplace, then that's charity, because otherwise he'd be on the street. I don't want anything to do with him. Now, if you want to call and tell me where _you're_ staying, that's fine, but I don't care what he's doing. I just want him out." Martin paused, then continued more softly, "I'm sorry that you had to see this. I'm sorry that all your efforts were wasted. You tried to do a good thing in helping him. But he's beyond help."

Claire paused a moment, sadly. She didn't address his comments, she simply said, "I'll talk to you again in a couple days, Martin."

With that, she slipped out and quietly clicked the door closed.

Once in the garage, she got into the rental car and started the motor.

She took a deep breath before backing out.

"You okay, kiddo?" She asked after a few minutes.

"Where are we going?" Scott asked hoarsely, his throat sore from crying. Claire noticed he hadn't answered her question.

"Not sure yet," she told him, "I'll drive into the city and see what's still open."

After a silence, Scott asked, "What did my dad say when you went back in the house?"

Claire thought carefully before answering. "Well, he said it was up to me whether or not I wanted to call and tell him which hotel we would be staying at."

"That's all?" Scott asked.

Claire paused. "Yep, that's all."

Scott leaned forward and covered his face with his hands.

Claire saw him in the rearview mirror.

"Scott, honey, try not to worry about your dad. He's just upset right now. He'll calm down, and then we'll work this whole thing out. We'll do whatever's best for you. It'll be okay."

"No it won't!" Scott yelled, seeming angry all of a sudden. "My dad will _never_ forgive me! He won't want me to come back home, he won't understand, he won't want to see me…he's not going to listen to my side of it. He'll only listen to Elaine. He loves her…he won't love me anymore. I betrayed him…" Scott sounded so mournful.

"Your dad may love Elaine, but he loves you too. But…what he saw was very shocking to him, and you just need to give him some time to work through it, okay?"

She pulled into the main entrance of a Hyatt Regency.

"We'll be just fine here until then. Don't you worry about a thing."

She stopped the motor.

"Now, you stay in the care here while I see about a room."

Claire returned just a few moments later, and unlocked the car, saying, " Hop on out and we'll go up to our room."

They got their bags from the trunk and went upstairs. Claire opened the door with the key card, and told Scott to choose which bed he wanted. Scott wanted the one near the window, so Claire took the one closer to the door.

"Go ahead and unpack your duffel into the drawers, because we'll be here a couple days and I don't want your clothes to get wrinkled." Claire told him.

Most of her things were hang-ups so she used the closet.

After unpacking, Scott said he needed to shower.

Claire remembered he had showered before he went to bed at his parent's house, but she merely nodded and told him to take as long as he wanted.

When he came out, he had put on fresh sweatpants and a t-shirt and he had dried his hair. He looked exhausted and Claire felt sorry for him.

"You go ahead and lie down, honey. I'm going to go out to the ice machine and get some ice for your eye."

But when Claire came back in with the ice bucket, Scott was fast asleep.

Claire spent a while sitting beside the sleeping boy, holding the ice to his eye and trying to find a way out of this mess.

End of Chpt 16.

Author's Note- I know rape victims are not supposed to shower, but since Elaine claimed Scott raped her, it really wouldn't matter if he had evidence on him and he showered. Or at least, I didn't think it did. Not sure…but anyway it's just a story.


	17. Chapter 17: Anything Out of the Ordinary

Chpt 17 _Anything Out of the Ordinary_

Author's Note- When you hate Martin's character, did you mean you hate how _he is_ as a person, or did you mean you hate how _I wrote _him- like, did I write him out of character? Let me know if I don't have his personality right, because I want to write the people as true to character as I can.

I thought that in that last chapter, it seemed true to Martin's character that he would take Elaine's side, right? Sucks, I know…but hey it happens. (My husband takes my sides of things instead of his son. But hopefully in our case it doesn't really matter too much...because personally, _I _have this little policy _against _having sex with my stepson! Brilliant, right?...It's a pretty good policy... Elaine should really try it! )

XXX

Chapter 17 – _Anything Out of the Ordinary_

In the morning, both of them slept till after ten. Claire woke first, and ordered room service for them. Scott woke up the smell of the pancakes, sausage and eggs, but felt his stomache turn at the thought of eating anything, and only shook his head when Claire tried to get him to eat.

All night, Scott had nightmares about what had happened to him the previous night. Usually the sex was what he had nightmares about, but this time all his nightmares were of his father's face when he walked into Scott's bedroom, and his father's words- _You are not my son_.

He didn't feel like he had slept at all.

Plus, he felt dirty. Foregoing breakfast, he just told Claire quietly that he needed to shower. Claire just nodded and watched him go silently into the bathroom and shut the door.

When he finished, Claire had gotten dressed and was watching the weather report on television. "Hey," she said softly to him as he came back into the room.

"Hi," Scott said quietly. He had dressed in the bathroom, but he'd just put on a tee shirt and sweatpants again. He got back into his bed and lay down, facing the wall.

"Hey, Scott, you're not going back to sleep, are you?" Claire asked, getting up and coming over to his bed. She got on his bed and sat next to him. When he didn't answer, she patted his shoulder. "Scott?"

He pulled the covers up over his head.

Claire pulled them back down.

"Scott, honey, you've slept long enough. You need to eat some breakfast."

"I told you I'm not hungry."

Claire sighed and leaned back on the headboard. She didn't get off his bed, she stayed sitting next to him, but she just continued watching the tv.

After a while, she said, "Scott, there's something I've been worried about lately."

"Hmm," was Scott's reply.

"When Elaine has…gotten you into…sexual activity… like last night…has she been having you wear a condom?"

"…no" Scott cleared his throat. He still didn't look at her; he said all this while still facing the wall. "Well, she has some of the time. But not most of the time. Um, she used to keep them in my room, but my dad found the box once and he took them away and grounded me…He was really mad…I guess he thought I was sleeping with a girl, but I couldn't tell him they came from her. So then she started just getting a few at a time and keeping them in her pocket till she wanted to use them, but sometimes…well, she forgets… And then we just don't use any. …_Most_ of the time we don't use any."

"Do you know if she's on any form of birth control, Scott?"

Scott didn't answer right away. "I don't know." Scott finally said, his voice sounding small.

Claire frowned. Well, this wasn't looking good. Not good at all. She put her hand on his shoulder. "The other concern I had was…look, this may feel embarrassing, but…you need to tell me the truth, ok?"

Scott waited.

"Have you been having any unusual, physical symptoms?"

"What do you mean?" Scott asked, tensing up.

"Just anything out of the ordinary, since this all started. Being sore, any abnormal coloring or bumps, itching, maybe some pain…anything like that?"

Scott didn't answer right away. "Why?"

"Because," Claire said patiently, "If you do, then you need medical attention. If Elaine's …actions….have passed anything on to you, it is probably treatable and nothing to worry about, but we need to make sure, don't we?"

Scott didn't say anything.

"Scott?" Claire peered over at him.

"Claire…can we talk later? I'm tired." Scott said.

Claire pulled up the covers around him and ran her hand over his curls. "Sure, honey. But do you promise we'll talk about this later? It really is important."

Scott didn't answer. He was pretending he was already asleep.

End of Chpt 17- sorry so short but I'm tired and anyway I'll write a longer one next time…


	18. Chapter 18: Change Is In The Air

Unforgivable

I have not written in a while and I can tell…sorry if it is short but it feels long to me 'cuz it was like pulling teeth to get it completed!

…the Author's Note at the end is something that has been in the back of my mind _bugging me_ about Higher Ground and I _finally_ figured out what it is!

Chapter 18 – "Change Is In The Air"

Scott did doze off, and he slept for a little while in the late morning and early afternoon. Around one in the afternoon, he felt Claire gently shaking him awake.

"Scott, you need to wake up. I don't want you sleeping all day."

"Why not?" Scott mumbled. "It's not like I have to be anywhere."

"Yeah, you do," Claire said, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "I told you we were going to talk again about what was going on."

"...don't wanna talk," Scott's muffled response came as he pulled the pillow down over his head.

"I know, but you're going to have to." Claire didn't try to move the pillow. He seemed to have an easier time talking if he didn't have to actually make eye contact.

"I asked you earlier if you had any physical symptoms of anything, and you didn't answer me. You wanted to go to sleep, and I let you sleep, but now you need to answer the question."

"No."

"No…?"

"No, nothing's wrong." Came Scott's muffled response.

"Are you sure?" Claire asked.

"I think I'd know," Scott said, sounding irritated and pressing the pillow closer to his face, making it harder to hear him.

"Well, just to be on the safe side, I think we better see a doctor," Claire said, standing up.

Scott threw off the pillow and sat up abruptly, facing her and looking angry. "No!" He yelled. "I don't want to go to a doctor. I said nothing's wrong!"

Claire pursed her lips and waited a minute before speaking. "Scott," she finally said, "If Elaine was cheating on your father by abusing you, well…how do we know she wasn't also cheating on him by sleeping with other men? I don't want to scare you, but I just think we need to be safe. Does that make sense?"

"I don't want to go to a doctor." Scott insisted.

"Well, it's Sunday, I doubt any are open. I thought about Urgent Care, but…I think we should go to the hospital."

"No," Scott insisted.

"Why are you so reluctant to go?" Claire pressed. "You've been to doctors before. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"This'll be different."

"Well, that's true. This will be a little different. But I think you can do it. Look at everything you've handled so far."

Scott stared at her with dead eyes. "I haven't done anything but screw up."

Claire said, "No, no, I mean look how many difficult things have happened to you in the last few hours and look how well you've dealt with them. You haven't tried to use drugs or alcohol to numb the pain, you haven't had any angry outbursts, you haven't run away. You may have slept a little too much, which isn't really the best way of dealing with problems, but nothing you've done has been violent or harmful to yourself. That's good, Scott. That's positive. You're handling everything very well. So I think you can deal with just one little trip to see a doctor."

When Scott didn't respond, she persisted, "It may be a little intimidating at first, but you can handle it. I know you can."

"I have to take a shower," Scott said, getting up and slowly heading toward the bathroom. He made no response to her doctor idea, so she figured he was no longer arguing. She chose not to point out this would be his fourth shower within 24 hours.

When Scott got out of the shower, and was in the bathroom putting clothes on, when he heard Claire talking. At first he thought she was talking to him, so he opened the door a crack to hear her, but then realized she was on the phone. She was sitting on his bed with her back to him, speaking quietly into her cell phone.

"I realize that, Martin. But I'm going to have to come get it, and I don't want to leave him here by himself. He can stay in the car."

There was a pause.

Then sounding frustrated, she repeated, "You won't have to. I told you he will stay in the car."

"Martin, do you- no, I understand that you don't want- well, then can you just have it ready? That way I can stop by and pick it up from you."

There was a slight pause, then she said quickly, "All right, thank you. I'll be there in about half an hour."

Scott came out of the bathroom. "Did my dad call?" He sounded eager.

Claire edited her conversation in order to keep from breaking his heart about his dad.

"I called him. When we go to the hospital they'll probably ask for your insurance card, so I needed to arrange to pick that up before we go. I'm going to bring you, but…you don't need to go in. We won't stay, okay? I'll just go up and get it and then we'll be on our way."

Scott saw through her careful words. "He's still mad, isn't he?"

Claire patted him on the shoulder. "A little bit. But what happened was not your fault, and he's wrong to be angry at you for it."

"He doesn't even want me back." Scott said to himself aloud, hardly believing it could be true.

"You know what? It's hard to do this, but I think right now you really just need to forget about him and what he thinks. He's in denial. Until he sees things for what they are, he's not going to act rationally. Right now just take care of yourself and what you need, and worry about your dad later."

Scott wiped his eyes and looked up, shifting his focus to the day ahead. "Do we have to pack up our stuff?"

"No, we have the room a couple days, we can just leave it here. Are you sure you don't want to eat anything?"

Scott nodded.

"Okay, well then let's go."

Claire drove back to Scott's house, and parked on the street instead of pulling into the driveway. Scott stared at his house while Claire walked up to it. His dad must have been looking out the window and watching for them, because Claire didn't have to ring the doorbell. The door opened as she approached it, and Scott could see part of his dad at the doorway (his dad did not step all the way out). His dad handed Claire a card, which she put in her purse, and then the two stood there a moment. Scott could see their lips moving but he couldn't tell what they were saying. They hadn't really looked angry, but they only spoke for a moment before Claire turned and came back to the car, and Scott's dad shut the front door of the house.

Scott was almost afraid to ask what it had been about, but he wanted to know.

"What were you talking about?"

"Hmm?" Claire asked, pulling out of the driveway.

"With my dad?" Scott pressed. "What did he say to you?"

"Well, he asked how you are, and I said you were hanging in there, but that you were right outside in the car if he wanted to see you. Then he said to call him after we go to the hospital. I think…"

"What?"

"I think he's scared, Scott. Remember how I said he was in denial? Maybe he's not so much anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I think he wants answers. _Real_ answers. Remember the story Elaine gave him?"

Scott's face darkened. How could he forget? Elaine told his father that Scott raped her. "My dad said I was lucky he didn't call the police on me," he said bitterly.

"Yeah…but you know why he didn't? I think, even then, he knew what would have happened. I don't think the police would have done anything to get you in trouble, Scott. I think they would have seen exactly what was going on. Especially after my statement to them, and your dads statement- unless he'd lie to the police- that Elaine was _on top_ of _you_. Her story would have fallen apart eventually, and in the back of his mind, your dad probably already knew that. So he just kicked you out, instead of calling the police on you to get you in trouble for a 'supposed' rape. He said you were lucky he wasn't calling the police on you….but, he really was just protecting Elaine and allowing himself to keep denying that she was doing anything wrong."

"Why does he always choose her over me?" Scott said angrily.

"Oh, Scott, some men- I don't know." Claire gripped the steering wheel harder as changed lanes. "I think your father's finally starting to realize that Elaine is not what she appears to be. And he wants to know what they say about you at the hospital…because once you're seen by a professional, well...I'm pretty sure Elaine is going to have some explaining to do to the police."

Claire pulled into the hospital parking lot. "Let's get this over with, kiddo."

End of chpt 18, now the AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Remember that time Scott ran away and was found in that house where he was destroying some person's bedroom with a baseball bat? And that night, Peter had to stay all night watching him sleep because he was like a flight risk or whatever, they thought he might run away again. Remember that? I think that all happened in the first episode actually.

Okay so what bothered me was…when Peter was watching him sleep all night, Scott was sleeping on his back. Face up. And I always thought that was… _odd_, but I just couldn't put my finger on _why _I thought it was odd.

Today I was watching some episodes, and it finally hit me as to _why_ it was odd: Children who are sexually abused have a tendency to sleep on their stomachs. And Scott was sleeping flat on his back with Peter there. It is atypical behavior for child sexual abuse victims.

_Then_, I noticed that in _every single flashback_ of him at home where _Elaine _is coming into his room, he is _always_ shown lying on his stomach.

At home, where he's not safe, he sleeps on his stomach. At Horizon, he typically lays on his back.

So, I was like, _awww_ he feels safe when he's at Horizon.

And yeah, probably the writers didn't know/realize that, because I am over-analyzing the character….or who knows, maybe they actually know what they're writing about!

By the way if you have a kid who sleeps on their stomach, sorry, don't freak out, it's probably just how they're comfortable. Lots of people sleep on their stomachs and it doesn't mean anything.


End file.
